Today in History – November 26, 2003 – The Concorde, the most
successful supersonic passenger jet in history, is completely
retired from flight. Although successful as a collaborative
technical effort, it did not survive the marketplace; it was too
expensive to maintain, demand was not high enough at the prices
required and the public put many constraints on flight paths due
to the noise pollution of the sonic boom. For more information,
see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on the Concorde,
supersonic flight and aerospace engineering. Curricular
resources and events can be found on the Aerospace Engineering
Education Community site. Also on this date in history in 1789,
the first national Thanksgiving in the United States was
proclaimed by President George Washington. The holiday that
Americans celebrate annually on the last Thursday in November
commemorates an event on the Virginia Berkeley Plantation on
December 4, 1621. Although saved by the charity of the local
Native Americans who supplied much of the