On this day in 1935: During the Great Depression, the Regent Cafe in Jackson, Michigan offered $1,000 for couples to walk as long as they could. Tommy McGeer and Jackie Airgood walked for 88 days to win the prize. On this day in 1954: The first passenger flight, a DC6B "Great Lakes Clipper," took off from Wayne Major (now Detroit Metropolitan) Airport, bound for London.
TRANSCRIPT
In 1935, one-thousand dollars was a huge amount of money. Particularly as this was during the Great Depression. But the Regent Cafe on Cortland St in Jackson Michigan put up a Grand for couples to walk for as long astheirwere able to. Endurance was the key and the winning couple, Tommy McGeer of Detroit and Jackie Airgood of Pontiac, ended up walking around the dance floor of the Elks Temple, nowadays the Jackson County Courthouse, for an astonishing 88 days, four hours, 20 minutes, and 30 seconds to win $1000 in 1935, about 22 thousand dollars today.
Also in 1954, a London-bound DC6B “Great Lakes Clipper” sped down a lone runway past a skinny control tower and climbed into sunny skies as the first passenger flight to lift off from Wayne Major (now Detroit Metropolitan) Airport.