Here's
a “first” that may never have crossed your mind:
On
this date in 1931, a cow named Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to
fly in an airplane.
(!)
Ollie
was a Guernsey cow, and she gave a lot of milk every day. Instead of
being milked twice a day, she needed to be milked three times a day.
So of course, on the 72-mile trip from Bismarck to St. Louis,
Missouri, Elm Farm Ollie needed to be milked. Wisconsin man Elsworth
Bunce therefore became the first man to milk a cow on an airplane. 
Ollie
produced 24 quarts of milk during the flight. The milk was sealed
into paper cartons and—get this!—parachuted down to spectators
below. Charles Lindbergh, a famous pioneer of flight, was said to have received a glass of milk from the historic flight.
Scientists
supposedly got a chance to observe midair effects on animals. But the
flight was probably mostly a publicity stunt. It was part of the
International Air Exposition, after all.
Flying
Pigs and Snakes on a Plane
We
humans move around a lot more these days than we used to, what with
fun vacations, educational tours, and work relocations. And of
course, a lot of our travel is via airplane. It's no surprise that we
need a way to fly our animals as well.
Whether
it's pets, farm livestock, service animals, or
smuggled critters, there seems to be a whole lot of animals in
airplanes!
Also
on this date:
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