Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States – December 13, 1923, English Channel) was an aviation pioneer. He was the third son of the gyrocompass co-inventor, Elmer Ambrose Sperry and his wife Zula. Sperry invented the first autopilot, which he demonstrated with startling success in France in 1914. Sperry is also credited with developing the artificial horizon still used on most aircraft in the early 21st century. On 13 December 1923 Sperry took off amid fog in a Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger from the United Kingdom headed for France but never reached his destination. His body
Burst of Joy I'm one of the lucky ones." Donald Goldstein, a retired Air Force colonel and a co-author of a prominent Vietnam War photojournalism book, "The Vietnam War: The Stories and The Photographs", says of "Burst of Joy", "After years of fighting a war we couldn't win, a war that tore us apart, it was finally over, and the country could start healing." Burst of Joy Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava "Sal" Veder, taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base in California. The photograph came to symbolize the end of United