Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock (From Wikipedia Commons)

Geraldine “Jerrie” Fredritz Mock (November 22, 1925 – September 30, 2014) was an American pilot and the first woman to fly solo around the world, which she did in 1964. She flew a single engine Cessna 180 (registered N1538C) christened the “Spirit of Columbus” and nicknamed “Charlie.”  The trip began March 19, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio, and ended April 17, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio, and took 29 days, 21 stopovers and almost 22,860 miles (36,790 km). An almost forgotten part of this flight is the “race” that developed between Jerrie Mock and Joan Merriam Smith who had flown from a field near San Francisco CA on March 17, 1964. Joan’s departure date and flight path was the same as the aviator Amelia Earhart‘s last flight and though not in direct competition with each other, media coverage soon began tracking the progress of each pilot fascinated with who would complete the journey first; Mock did. The story of this race is told in a book written by Taylor Phillips entitled, Racing to Greet the Sun, Jerrie Mock and Joan Merriam Smith Duel to Become the First Woman to Solo Around the World (2015). Jerrie Mock was subsequently awarded the Louis Blériot medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1965. In 1970 she published the story of her round-the-world flight in the book Three-Eight Charlie. While that book is now out of print, a 50th anniversary edition was later published including maps, weather charts and photos. Three-Eight Charlie is a reference to the call sign, N1538C, of the Cessna 180 Skywagon Mock used to fly around the world.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

1490s

• 1492: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS’S TRIP FINANCED BY SPAIN

1740s

• BORN 1741: SAMUEL CHASE (LAWYER)

1790s

• DIED 1790: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (AMERICAN STATESMAN)

1810s

• 1810: LEWIS M. NORTON PATENTED A VAT FOR FORMING PINEAPPLE-SHAPE CHEESE

1830s

• BORN 1837: JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN (BUSINESS TYCOON)

1850s

• 1851: FIRST MINOT’S LEDGE LIGHT IN MASSACHUSETTS SWEPT AWAY DURING STORM

1890s

• BORN 1897: THORNTON WILDER (AUTHOR)

1900s

• 1908: SONG “HAIL, HAIL, THE GANG’S ALL HERE,” WAS COPYRIGHTED

1910s

• BORN 1918: WILLIAM HOLDEN (ACTOR)

1950s

• BORN 1951: OLIVIA HUSSEY (ACTRESS)

1960s

• BORN 1961: “BOOMER” ESIASON (FOOTBALL PLAYER)
• BORN 1963: JOEL MURRAY (ACTOR)
• 1964: GERALDINE MOCK COMPLETED SOLO FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD

1970s

• 1970: APOLLO 13 RETURNED SAFELY TO EARTH AFTER HAVING MAJOR DIFFICULTIES
• BORN 1972: JENNIFER GARNER (ACTRESS)

1990s

• 1996: 6-LB. 10-OZ. GOLDFISH CAUGHT IN LAKE HODGES, CALIFORNIA25 Years Ago
• 1998: SPACELAB’S FINAL MISSION, NEUROLAB, LAUNCHED
• DIED 1998: LINDA MCCARTNEY (PHOTOGRAPHER, SINGER, ACTIVIST, & WIFE OF BEATLE PAUL MCCARTNEY)

2000s

• DIED 2003: DR. ROBERT C. ATKINS (CARDIOLOGIST WHO INTRODUCED THE “ATKINS DIET”)

2010s

• 2014: DISCOVERY OF FIRST EARTH-SIZE PLANET IN “HABITABLE ZONE” PUBLICIZED
• DIED 2016: DORIS ROBERTS (ACTRESS)
• DIED 2018: BARBARA BUSH (U.S. FIRST LADY)

COURTESY www.almanac.com