July 17, 1938

After being denied permission by the Civil Aviation Authority to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland because his airplane was in such poor condition, Douglas Corrigan took off from Floyd Bennett Field in his $310 1929 single-engine Curtiss-Robin with the intent to fly home to California instead. But 28 hours, 13 minutes later, Corrigan landed his plane down "accidentally" in Dublin, Ireland, claiming that his faulty compass caused him to fly in the opposite direction. Known forever after as, "Wrong Way" Corrigan, his "mistake" caught the public's imagination and he received a hero's welcome upon his return to the United States.