Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois, a former military balloonist, makes his first solo flight in Army Aeroplane No. 1 (the Wright 1909 Military Flyer) at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex. Ordered to leave College Park, Md., for the winter, Foulois and a few ground crewmen arrived in Texas in February and reassembled the aircraft. Foulois taught himself to fly with correspondence help from the Wright brothers.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.

