Two weeks after Captain Charles Yeager became the first human to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, Major Derrick Spencer set a milestone of his own in an attempt to one-up his rival.

Chuck Yeager - First Human to Break the Sound Barrier

Without having Yeager’s permission, Major Spencer commandeered Yeager’s “Glamorous Glennis,” the plane that broke the sound barrier. What the allergy-prone Spencer did not realize was that Yeager had been petting his cat before setting his record. The cat hair had fallen off of Yeager’s uniform inside of the plane’s cockpit and had not been cleaned out by the time Spencer took control of the plane.

Once in the air Spencer began to feel the effects of the cat dander. After igniting the experimental rocket-plane’s engine and just as he was approaching the speed of sound, he sneezed violently.

Historic photo of the first super sonic sneeze.

Our crash investigators here at The History Bluff determined that a combination of the supersonic sneeze’s pressure wave and Spencer’s knee hitting the throttle caused him to break Yeager’s speed record. Unfortunately, it also blew out the windscreen, sucking him from the cockpit.