March 21

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Модéст Петрóвич Мýсоргский; 21 March [O.S. 9 March] 1839 – 28 March [O.S. 16 March] 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.

Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bare Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have recently come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available.

Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaysky (Russian: Александр Фёдорович Можайский) (March 21 [O.S. March 9] 1825, Rochensalm (current Kotka), southern Finland – 1 April [O.S. March 20] 1890, Saint Petersburg), was a Russian naval officer, aviation pioneer, researcher and designer of heavier-than-air craft." In 1884, Mozhaysky's monoplane made a failed attempt to fly (only a spring of ca. 100 ft).

His design relied upon a ramp rather than engine power to generate sufficient speed for lift. The wing design of his craft lacked the curvature necessary to generate lift. While it is possible that Mozhaysky's wings slowed his monoplane's descent after launch from the ramp, the wings were unlikely ever to have provided sufficient lift for sustained flight unless used at angles of attack that would have been impractical, given the engines available to Mozhaysky. He also experimented with different angles of attack.

In 1909 a Russian newspaper claimed Mozhaysky's hop was the first powered flight. This false claim was later repeated many times by the Soviet Union as propaganda. In 1971-1981 TsAGI researched the topic and disproved the claim. Mozhaysky's original aircraft was found incapable of generating lift because of low engine capacity. It was also shown that with a more powerful engine, which Mozhaysky had planned shortly before his death, the aircraft might have been able to fly.