15 September 1913

With money earned from selling rubber-band powered model airplanes, and barrel hoops, redwood scraps and automobile and motorcycle parts that he had begged at Chicago's Cicero Field, 16 year-old Emil Matthew "Matty" Laird set out to build his first plane. On Sept. 15, 1913, it was ready for flight. He got 10 feet in the air, changed his mind and tried to land, breaking the wing. Laird was to become a noted and influential designer and builder of airplanes.