1781: French fleet defeats British at Yorktown, VA
1910: First recorded reference to provision for aviation in Navy Department organization
1918: USS Tampa lost with 118 men, probably by German submarine
1931: Keel laying at Newport News, VA of USS Ranger (CV-4), first ship designed and constructed as an aircraft carrier
1963: First steam-eject launch of Polaris missile at sea off Cape Canaveral, FL (now Cape Kennedy) from USS Observation Island (EAG-154)