On Sept. 7, 1965: Bell Helicopter flies the prototype of its Model 209 attack helicopter, a private venture to address the US Army’s need for a dedicated aerial gunship. Work on the project that became the AH-1G HueyCobra began in 1965 as Army losses of Bell’s iconic UH-1 Huey utility helicopters modified as gunships in Vietnam began to increase.

Today in Military History: On Sept. 6, 1915, the world’s first prototype tank, the Number 1 Lincoln Machine, is completed at William Foster & Company in Lincoln, England. The 16.5-ton vehicle was designed to cross a 5-foot-wide trench. The requirements were established by the Landships Committee in July 1915 to break the stalemate of trench warfare.

Today in Military History: In its first operation since its formation on Feb. 14, 1942, the 503rd Parachute Regiment — the first American airborne unit to see action in the Pacific — makes an unopposed landing near Nadzab, New Guinea. It takes the key town of Lae that was evacuated by Japanese forces, fighting with their rear elements.

Commercial and military aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group remembers Joe Sutter (1921-2016), the father of the Boeing 747 commercial jetliner.

Today in Military History: On Aug. 19, 1812, two months after the start of the War of 1812, the USS Constitution commanded by Capt. Issac Hull defeated the HMS Guerriere commanded by Capt. James Richard Dacres about 600 southwest of Newfoundland.

Today in Military History: On Aug. 7, 1944, IBM handed over its Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) to Harvard University where is it known as the Harvard Mark 1. The giant machine was used for calculations for the US Navy’s Bureau of Ships and the Manhattan Project.

Today in Aerospace History: On Aug. 6, 1955, Boeing’s legendary flight test chief Tex Johnston barrel-rolled the company’s new Model 367-80 jet that was the prototype for two iconic and enduring aircraft: the US Air Force’s KC-135 Stratotanker and the game-changing 707 Stratoliner passenger aircraft.

On Aug. 2, 1909, the Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal Corps accepted its first powered aircraft, know as the Wright Military Flyer or the Wright Model A, designated Signal Corps No. 1.

The 12-gun US Navy-schooner USS Enterprise, under the command of Lt. Andrew Sterett, defeats and captures a 14-gun Tripolitan corsair just west of Malta. Enterprise, the third Navy ship to bear the name, was built in 1799 by Harry Spencer in Baltimore and served until she was lost in July 1823.

Mike Trotter, the business development director of the Canberra to the Sky project, was part of the team that returned the Avro Vulcan B2 bomber XM558 to the sky.