Anton Flettner (November 1, 1885 – December 29, 1961) was a German aviation engineer and inventor. He made important contributions to airplane and helicopter design. November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During World War I, Flettner developed a device allowing to raise or lower a plane's nose for better control, today known as the "trim tab". World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

Following World War I, Flettner directed an aeronautical and hydrodynamic research institute in Amsterdam.

In the 1920s, he bought a schooner and added two rotating 50-foot cylinders onto it, and thus was the first to build a propulsion system based on the Magnus effect. The ship was named Baden-Baden and crossed the Atlantic in 1926 before being destroyed by a storm in 1931. 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Two-masted fishing schooner A schooner is a type of sailing ship characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts. ... The Magnus effect is the name given to the physical phenomenon whereby an objects rotation affects its path through a fluid, in particular, air. ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

During World War II, he headed the Flettner Aircraft Corporation which specialized in helicopters. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ...

After 1945, Flettner moved to America and started a new Flettner Aircraft Corporation, which developed helicopters for the U.S. military. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ...