The YB-52 Stratofortress bomber prototype makes its maiden flight from a Boeing facility in Seattle. Company pilot A.M. “Tex” Johnston is at the controls. Seventy-three years later, the aircraft is still flying and projected to stay in service for more than a century.
Navy Adm. Richard Correll succeeded Air Force Gen. Anthony J. Cotton as head of U.S. Strategic Command on Dec. 5, stressing the need for the combatant command to understand and embrace new technologies for its deterrence mission.

