we are driving through the center of bangui.ar is the former runway. read more about the most significant events of this day in history, in a selection by ekaterina barlakova. let’s tell you what this day is memorable for in history right now. hello. on january 3, 1496, in pola near florence, leonardo da vinci tested a flying machine of his design. genius renaissance painter, architect, scientist, engineer, believed that man could rise into the air. his papers preserved drawings of a hang glider and an ornithopter, a variant of a flywheel, but he built only this device, which is considered the prototype of a modern helicopter. it was assumed that the lifting force would be provided by a spiral-shaped linen sail with a metal edging for weighting. it was not a propeller, but a version of the archimedean screw, the kind used to supply water. it was installed on a platform and rotated several times man, but the car did not take off, its body began to rotate. exactly 100 years ago, on january 3, 1924, british egyptologist howard cart