Charles Lindbergh Chronology

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1898

Jan 03

T. Claude Ryan, American aircraft manufacturer; designed the Spirit of St Louis, is born.

Ref: 70

1899

Nov 26

Bruno Hauptmann, Kidnapper of the son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is born.

Ref: 70

1902

Feb 04

Charles A. Lindbergh, the American aviator who became the first man to fly the Atlantic solo nonstop from the United States to Europe, is born in Detroit MI.

Ref: 70

1907

Jun 22

Anne Morrow Lindbergh aviator, author: Gift from the Sea; married to Charles; mother of kidnapped Charles Jr.; is born.

Ref: 4

1924

Nov 05

(day unspecified) Bruno Hauptmann enters the United States.

Ref: 87

1927

Apr 29

Construction of the Spirit of St Louis is completed.

Ref: 5

May 20

At 7:40 AM, Charles A. Lindbergh departs on his solo flight to Paris from Roosevelt Field in his 33-hour non-stop transatlantic crossing in the Spirit of St. Louis. Ref

May 21

Charles A. Lindbergh arrived to a hero’s welcome in Paris, in his spindly monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis (the famous plane is now displayed in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC). Lindbergh’s flight marked the first time that a person had flown across the Atlantic Ocean. The event got more press coverage than any other single even in history to that time. In American newspapers alone, it was estimated that some 27,000 columns of words were used to describe Lindbergh’s epic journey. A depiction of that famous flight was portrayed by one of America’s great motion picture actors, Jimmy Stewart, in the film, The Spirit of St. Louis. Upon his return to American soil, Lucky Lindy was given another hero’s welcome.

Ref: 4

May 23

After his triumphant solo flight across Atlantic, Charles Lindbergh awarded French Legion of Honor.

Ref: 10

May 25

The Movietone News was shown for the first time at the Sam Harris Theatre in NY City. Charles Lindbergh’s epic flight aboard the Spirit of St. Louis was featured. These newsreels were produced for showing in theatres until 1967 when competition from TV news forced them into extinction.

Ref: 4

Jun 11

Charles A. Lindbergh was presented the first Distinguished Flying Cross.

Ref: 4

Jun 13

Charles Lindbergh receives the Flying Cross and is treated to a ticker tape parade to celebrate his successful crossing of the Atlantic. For the first time, an American flag was displayed from the right hand of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

Ref: 2

Jun 13

For the first time, an American flag was displayed from the right hand of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

Ref: 4

Jun 18

The US Post Office offered a special 10-cent postage stamp for sale. The stamp honored Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. It was the first postage stamp to feature the name of a living American.

Ref: 4

Sep 04

Charles Lindbergh visits Boise, Idaho, on his cross-country tour.

Ref: 5

Sep 17

Charles Lindbergh visits San Francisco.

Ref: 5

Dec 05

(day unspecified) Charles Lindbergh meets Anne Morrow on Latin American good-will tour.

Ref: 87

1928

Mar 21

President Calvin Coolidge gives the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.

Ref: 2

1929

Feb 12

Charles Lindbergh announces his engagement to Anne Morrow.

Ref: 2

May 27

Colonel Charles Lindbergh marries Anne Spencer Murrow.

Ref: 2

Sep 18

Charles Lindbergh takes off on a 10,000 mile air tour of South America.

Ref: 2

1930

Jan 20

Charles Lindbergh arrives in New York, setting a cross country flying record of 14.75 hours.

Ref: 2

Jun 22

Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. born.

Ref: 87

1931

Nov 17

Charles Lindbergh inaugurates Pan Am service from Cuba to South America in the Sikorsky flying boat American Clipper.

Ref: 2

1932

Jan 05

(day unspecified) The Lindberghs move into their new estate in Hopewell, New Jersey.

Ref: 87

Mar 01

20 month old Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. is kidnapped from his 2nd floor bedroom near Hopewell, NJ.

Ref: 4

Mar 02

Reporters and souveneir hunters swarm over the Lindbergh estate.

Ref: 87

Mar 05

The Lindberghs receive their first communication from kidnappers since the crime.

Ref: 87

Mar 08

Dr. John F. Condon publishes an open letter to Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.'s kidnappers in the Bronx Home News.

Ref: 87

Mar 09

The Lindbergh kidnapper responds to the Condon letter.

Ref: 87

Mar 10

Lindberghs agree to allow Condon to act as intermediary with the kidnapper of their son.

Ref: 87

Mar 12

Condon, a.k.a. "Jafsie," meets with the Lindbergh kidnapper.

Ref: 87

Apr 02

Charles Lindbergh and Dr.John F. Condou turned over $50000 to an unidentified man in a New York City cemetery as Ransom for the Lindbergh baby

Ref: 70

May 12

The body of the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was found in a wooded area of Hopewell, N.J.

Ref: 70

Jun 15

Gaston Means is sentenced to 15 years for fraud in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.

Ref: 2

1934

May 18

Congress approves "Lindbergh Act", makes kidnapping a capital offense.

Ref: 5

Sep 19

$14,000 of the Lindbergh kidnapping ransom is found in the Bronx apartment of Richard Bruno Hauptmann. Hauptmann is charged with the kidnap-murder.

Ref: 3

Sep 24

Bruno Hauptmann arraigned before New York magistrate on extortion charge associated with the Lindbergh kidnapping.

Ref: 87

Oct 08

Bruno Hauptmann was indicted for murder in the death of the infant son of Charles A. Lindbergh.

Ref: 70

Oct 10

A New Jersey grand jury indicts Bruno Hauptmann on murder and kidnapping charges of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.1935 0102 (Lindbergh) The Hauptmann trial begins in Flemington, New Jersey for the murder and kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.

Ref: 87

1935

Jan 02

Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was found guilty, and executed.)

Ref: 70

Feb 13

A jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed.

Ref: 70

Feb 14

Bruno Hauptmann is convicted and sentenced to death in Flemington, New Jersey for the murder and kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.

Ref: 87

Jun 20

The defense team appeals Bruno Hauptmann's conviction for the Lindbergh kidnapping to New Jersey's highest tribunal.

Ref: 87

Oct 09

Bruno Hauptmann's first appeal for the Lindbergh kidnapping is denied by New Jersey's highest tribunal.

Ref: 87

Oct 15

Bruno Hauptmann's defense team files second appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ref: 87

Dec 05

New Jersey Governor asks the New Jersey Court of Pardons to grant Hauptmann a personal interview to assess clemency in the Lindbergh kidnapping case.

Ref: 87

Dec 09

Second appeal is rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Lindbergh kidnapping case.

Ref: 87

1936

Jan 11

The Court of Pardons hears Bruno Hauptmann's plea in the Lindbergh kidnapping case and denies clemency.

Ref: 87

Jan 16

Anna Hauptmann appeals to New Jersey Governor for a stay; stay is granted.

Ref: 87

Jan 30

Governor Harold Hoffman orders a new inquiry into the Lindbergh kidnapping.

Ref: 2

Mar 30

The Court of Pardons hears Bruno Hauptman's plea in the Lindbergh kidnapping case a second time and denies clemency.

Ref: 87

Apr 03

Bruno Hauptman is executed, in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnappng and murder of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. Hauptmann's widow, Anna, continues to proclaim her husband's innocence; she petitions the state of New Jersey to release secret evidence in a continuing attempt to clear her husband's name.

Ref: 87

1937

Dec 05

The Lindberghs arrive in NY on a holiday visit after a two-year voluntary exile, is born.

Ref: 2

1941

Sep 11

Charles Lindbergh sparked charges of anti-Semitism with a speech in which he said "the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration" were trying to draw the US into World War II. (XDG, p 4A, 9/11/2000)

1954