On this day, January the 21st, in the year of 1976, the first passenger Concorde flights flew from London to Bahrain and Paris to Brazil respectively.

The plane, which was developed by British and French engineers, was the first passenger plane to travel at supersonic speeds, which could travel between London and New Jersey as fast as below three hours.

With both of the trips being successful, they were put into service for regular service.

However, in 2000, after over thirty years of no crashes, a Concorde crashed while taking off, killing all 109 people on board, and among other things, led to the jets going out of service in 2003 (History) (Business Insider) (Britannica).

To read more daily facts and tidbits and about aviation, see the Barron Perspectives “On this Day Archives” webpage and articles such as “(Miracle on the Hudson) On This Day – January 15th” and “(First US Pres. to Travel by Air) On This Day – January 14th”.