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1980
Died: Jacqueline Cochran, born Bessie Lee Pittman. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier as she piloted a Canadair F-86 Sabre jet over Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert on May 18, 1953. She was born May 11, 1906, in Muscogee, Florida. During World War II, she directed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program. For her efforts in support of the war effort, she was awarded the US Distinguished Service Medal in 1945. [Sources: the Orange County Register, Encyclopedia Britannica, Biography.com, and Wikipedia.]