July 24th, 1950: The first rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This two-stage Bumper rocket was comprised of two other rockets; the lower stage was a V2, which had been designed by the Germans during WWII, whilst the upper stage was the American Corporal design. The V2 rose vertically to an altitude of 16km before being turned to fly horizontally. The Corporal was then fired and travelled about 320km horizontally before falling into the Atlantic Ocean.