It happened in 1926

Twelve feet long and weighing only ten pounds fully loaded, the missile flew for two-and-a-half seconds and rose to an altitude of 41 feet. Goddard, who would become one of the pioneers of rocketry, pronounced himself "jubilant."

The meteoric rise of The Evangelist was mirrored in that brief trip into (sort of) space. The Albany diocesan newspaper arrived in a year of other firsts and debuts, as well as outstanding moments and great accomplishments, including:

* In Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg opened to visitors after restoration efforts funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr.

* Notable births included Queen Elizabeth II...economist Alan Greenspan...comedian Jerry Lewis...actress Marilyn Monroe.

* Lebanon declared itself a republic.

* U.S. Marines landed in Nicaragua to quell a revolt and remained several years.

* Hirohito succeeded his father as emperor of Japan.

* Notable deaths: Eugene V. Debs, the long-time proponent of socialism in the U.S...German poet Rainer Maria Rilke...French painter Claude Monet and American artist Mary Cassett...actor Rudolph Valentino...magician Harry Houdini...sharp-shooter Annie Oakley.

* The Book of the Month Club was founded...Ernest Hemingway published "The Son Also Rises"...Lawrence of Arabia wrote "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom"...A.A. Milne penned "Winnie the Pooh."

* Grazia Deledda, Sardinian writer, became second woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature...Sinclair Lewis rejected a Pulitzer Prize for "Arrowsmith" because he thought the award would tempt him to be "safe, polite and obedient" rather than critical of society (he would later become the first American to win the Nobel for Literature).

* Sarah Lawrence College, Lufthansa airlines and NBC were founded...Scottish inventor John Baird demonstrated television.

* One of the major (silent) movies of the year was "Ben Hur"...Warner Bros. began development of talking pictures...biggest box-office star was Rin-Tin-Tin.

* Jazz recordings by the likes of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Jelly Roll Morton topped the sales charts...Savoy Ballroom opened in New York.

* Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel...Gene Tunney beat Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight title...Bobby Jones took the U.S. Open golf tournament...Alabama won the Rose Bowl by one point over Washington, 20-19...the Yankees lost the World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

* Turkey abolished polygamy.

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