This week in history

Wed., Nov. 2, 2005

King Features Syndicate

• On Nov. 4, 1939, a cutting-edge development in automotive comfort goes on display: air-conditioning. The capacity of the unit was equivalent to 1.5 tons of ice in 24 hours when the car was driven at highway speeds.

• On Nov. 2, 1947, designer Howard Hughes pilots the Hughes Flying Boat — the largest aircraft ever built — on its first and only flight. From 1947 until his death in 1976, Hughes kept the massive wooden aircraft ready for flight in a climate-controlled hangar at a cost of $1 million per year.

• On Nov. 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launches the first animal into space — a dog named Laika — aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft. Laika survived for several days until the batteries of her life-support system ran down.

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