Robert H. Goddard

Robert Hutchings Goddard was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully launched on March 16, 1926. By 1915 his pioneering work had dramatically improved the efficiency of the solid-fueled rocket, signaling the era of the modern rocket and innovation. He and his team launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 2.6 km (1.6 mi) and speeds as fast as 885 km/h (550 mph).

5 October 1882

Born on the same birth day (5 October): Andy Nägelein • Bernard Bolzano • Bobo Baldé • Curtis Sanford • Frederic Morton • Helen Churchill Candee • John Alexander (footballer, born 1955) • Kenneth D. Taylor • Kenwyne Jones • Louis II of Anjou • M. King Hubbert • Magda Szabó • Michael John Rogers • Mike O'Neill (baseball) • Nate Thompson • Nathalie Kelley • Steve Williams (rugby union, born 1982) • Terri Runnels • Travis Kelce

Born in the same month (October 1882): A. Y. Jackson • André-Damien-Ferdinand Jullien • Bela Lugosi • Boris Shaposhnikov • Edmund Dulac • Günther von Kluge • Haritina Korotkevich • Harry McClintock • Jean Giraudoux • John T. Flynn • Karol Szymanowski • Lucien Petit-Breton • Margaret Dumont • N. C. Wyeth • Oldřich Duras • Sybil Thorndike • Theodora Agnes Peck • Tony Jackson (pianist) • Umberto Boccioni • Väinö Kivisalo • William Halsey Jr. • Éamon de Valera