Who made the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919?

John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919.

The British aviators took off from St. John’s, Newfoundland, on June 14, 1919, in a heavily modified Vickers Vimy bomber. They landed the following day near Clifden in County Galway, Ireland, after flying approximately 1,890 miles in about 16 hours. The aircraft had been adapted with extra fuel tanks for the dangerous journey.

The flight was extremely difficult. Alcock and Brown faced fog, turbulence, ice, equipment failures, and a snowstorm. Their electrical generator failed during the crossing, cutting radio contact, heating, and their intercom. They landed in Derrygimlagh Bog, which looked from the air like a field, damaging the aircraft but escaping serious injury.

Their achievement won the Daily Mail’s £10,000 prize and made them international heroes. Both men were knighted by King George V soon afterward. A common mix-up is Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927—eight years later.