May 8, 1933: The 1st Southern Transatlantic Flight

May 8, 1933: Lieutenant Colonel Stanisław Skarżyński of the Polish Air Force completes his flight from Saint-Louis, Senegal (then a French colony) to Maceio, Brazil. It is the 1st nonstop transatlantic flight between the continents of Africa and South America.

It wasn't the 1st successful attempt to fly across the South Atlantic Ocean. In 1922, in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Brazil's independence, Portuguese pilots Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral flew in several stages from Lisbon, Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It took 3 different planes, and from March 30 to June 17. Although a notable achievement in aviation, it was hardly the same thing as what Skarżyński did 11 years later.

Born in 1899 in Warta, in the Łódź Voivodeship, Skarżyński fought in the infantry in World War I and the Polish-Soviet War. In 1925, he completed pilot training, and, in 1931, he and Lieutenant Andrzej Markiewicz completed the 1st aerial circumnavigation of Africa. It required several stops, and it took from February 1 to May 5.

He took off from Saint-Louis on May 7, 1933, in a single-seater RWD-5bis, and flew across the Southern Atlantic Ocean to Macelo in 20 hours and 30 minutes. The plane had no radio and no safety equipment, and it remains the lightest plane ever to fly across the Atlantic. He then flew his plane to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and put himself and the plane on a ship to return to Europe.

After the outbreak of World War II, he helped in transporting Polish pilots, fleeing from Poland, through Romania to France, a centuries-old ally of Poland's, where the Polish Air Force was recreated. In 1940, after the fall of France, Lieutenant Colonel Skarżyński helped ship 17,000 Polish airmen to Britain, where he became commanding officer of Polish Flying Schools at RAF Hucknall and then RAF Newton. Britain's Royal Air Force assigned him as commanding officer of RAF Lindholme.

On June 26, 1942, while returning in a Wellington from a bombing mission over Bremen, Germany, an engine stalled above the North Sea. He made sure his entire crew parachuted to safety, and was the only one killed. He was 43 years old, and was posthumously promoted to a full Colonel. A Polish air base outside Kraków has been named for him.

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May 8, 1933 was a Monday. There were 4 baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig each went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, although neither hit a home run. Don Brennan, who would finish his career with 21 wins, outpitched Ted Lyons, who would finish his career with 260.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at the Polo Grounds. Rather than put himself in his usual position of 1st base, Giant player-manager Bill Terry put Sam Leslie there, and he drove in all the Giants' runs with a home run. Mel Ott went 2-for-4. But Joe Medwick and former Giant Frankie Frisch, now the Cards' player-manager, hit home runs to beat the Giants.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves 3-0 at Braves Field in Boston. Paul Waner went 1-for-4. Lloyd Waner went 2-for-4. And Larry French pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* And the Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 10-8 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Bob Boken won the game with a home run in the top of the 12th inning.