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Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin ( April 8 or July 8, 1838 - March 8, 1917) was the founder of the Zeppelin airship company. He was born in Konstanz, Grand Duchy of Baden (now part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany).
1 Military career
Zeppelin attended the 'war school' in Ludwigsburg and became a lieutenant in 1858. The following year, 1859, he was enlisted in the engineer corps and participated as an observer in the American Civil War (from 1863), the Austro-Prussian War ( 1866) and the Franco-Prussian WarMars-la-Tour, August 16, 1870 The Franco-Prussian War ( July 19, 1870 May 10, 1871) was waged between the Empire of France and the Prussian led North German Confederation allied with the south German states of Baden, Bavaria and Wurttemberg. The conflict ( 1870Events January 6 The inauguration of the Musikverein ( Vienna). January 10 John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil January 15 A political cartoon for the first time symbolizes the United States Democratic Party with a donkey ("A Live Jackass Kicking- 1871Events January January 18 The member-states of the North German Confederation unite into a single nation-state known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of Germany. January 28 France surrenders to en). He acted as commander of the Ulanen regiment in Ulm from 1882-1885 and afterwards was Württemberg's envoy in Berlin. In 1906 he was promoted to general of cavalry.
2 Airships
From the 1880s, Zeppelin was pre-occupied with the problem of guidable balloons and in 1899Events January events January 1 End of Spanish rule in Cuba. January 1 Queens and Staten Island merge with New York City. January 3 The first known use of the word " automobile", in an editorial in the New York Times''. January 6 Lord Curzon becomes a vic he started constructing the first guidable rigid airship which he used for three ascents over the Bodensee. The flights became more and more successful, igniting a public euphoria which allowed the Count to pursue the development of his vehicle. In fact the second version of his airship was entirely financed through donations and a lottery. The final financial breakthrough only came, ironically, after the Zeppelin LZ4 crashed in 19081908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January-February January 1 A ball signifying New Year's Day drops in New York City's Times Square for the first time January 8 A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue T at Echterdingen, sparking a wave of helpfulness. A subsequent collection campaign raised over 6 million german marks and the money was used to create the 'Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin GmbH' and a Zeppelin foundation.
The same year the military administration bought the fully functional airship LZ 3 and used it as Z1. From 1909Events January 5 Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. January 16 Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. January 28 United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War. February 12 The National, zeppelins also were used in civilian aviation. Up until 1914 the German aviation association (Deutsche Luftschifffahrtsgesellschaft, DELAG) transported nearly 35,000 people on over 1500 flights without an incident.
Count von Zeppelin died in 1917, before the end of World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of. He therefore didn't witness either the provisional shutdown of the Zeppelin project due to the Treaty of Versailles or the second resurgence of the zeppelins under his successor Hugo Eckener.
Finally, the crash of the LZ129 Hindenburg 20 years later, on May 6, 1937, at Lakehurst closed the chapter of these enormous rigid airships once and for all.
