May 24, 1939

With only a gallon of fuel left and darkness fast approaching, Mexican Francisco Sarabia set his Gee Bee "Conquistador del Cielo" ("Conquerer of the Sky") down at Floyd Bennett Field at 6:40pm, establishing a new non-stop speed record from Mexico City to New York of 10 hours, 48 minutes (Amelia Earhart held the previous record, set on May 8, 1935, of 14 hours, 19 minutes), covering a distance of 2,350 miles. On June 7, 1939, on his return trip, Sarabia took off from Washington's National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River and was killed. He's seen here standing in front of the doomed aircraft at Floyd Bennett Field.