American engineer and pilot

Burt Rutan

Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American retired aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which in 1986 was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. He also designed the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, which in 2006 set the world record for the fastest and longest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation flight in history. In 2004, Rutan's sub-orbital spaceplane design SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space, winning the Ansari X-Prize that year for achieving the feat twice within a two-week period.

Born

1943

June 17

Died

Living

Era

1940s

Country

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About

Burt, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1943 Born

Also on June 17

What else happened on this day, through history

653 Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
1242 Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris.
1300 Turku Cathedral is consecrated by Bishop Magnus I in the city of Turku (Swedish: Åbo).
1397 The Kalmar Union is formed under the rule of Margaret I of Denmark.

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The world in 1943

When Burt arrived

april 13 World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.
april 13 The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.
april 16 Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
april 18 World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on June 17

Alexander Shulgin 1925–2014 American pharmacologist and chemist (died 2014) Bartosz Brożek 1977– Polish philosopher and jurist François de Montmorency 1530– French nobleman (died 1579) George Howard 1718–1796 English field marshal and politician (born 1718) Giovanni Paolo Panini 1691–1765 Italian painter and architect (died 1765) Harry Patch 1898–2009 English soldier (born 1898) Jason Hanson 1970– American football player Joe McKelvey 1898–1922 executed Irish Republican Army leader (born 1898) Nikita Kucherov 1993– Russian ice hockey player

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1943

Albano Carrisi 1943– Italian singer, actor, and winemaker Blythe Danner 1943– American actress Davey Johnson 1943– American baseball player and manager (died 2025) Eddie Low 1943–2024 New Zealand country singer and musician (died 2024) Emerson Boozer 1943– American football player and sportscaster Florence Ballard 1943–1976 American singer (born 1943) Gamini Lokuge 1943– Sri Lankan politician (died 2025) Gary Wright 1943– American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (died 2023) Henri Szeps 1943– Australian actor (died 2025)

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Burt's birthday June 17 Burt's zodiac Gemini When Burt arrived 1943