On June 14-15, 1919, British aviators Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown made the first nonstop transatlantic flight, flying from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Ireland, in a Vickers Vimy bomber. The 16-hour flight was an incredible feat of endurance and navigation, battling fog and ice. They were awarded the £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail.

The epic crossing of the Atlantic was a major cultural event, solidifying the airplane as a technology capable of conquering vast distances. It inspired a wave of 'aviation poetry' and literature that celebrated the heroic endurance of the pilot, often framed as a new myth for the modern age. This achievement was a key moment in shifting the cultural perception of the world from vast and separate to connected and accessible.