testimony, shep? shepard: phil keating at the courthouse in sanford. and on this day in 1900, a retired prussian army officer named count federer than launched the first air ship over a lake in germany. he had become interested in light during the american civil war when he took several flights in union observation balloons. years later he built a cigar shaped air ship that used hydrogen for lift and a small engine to push it forward. zeppelins became widely used in the military and then commercial passenger service. of course, things took a tragic turn in 1937 when the air ship hindenburg burst into flames in new jersey at the end of a trans-atlantic flight. 36 people died and zeppelin s popularity quickly defladded. but the first one took to the skies 113 years ago today. and now you know the news for this tuesday, july the
on helium. they say it s critical for the high-tech medical equipment and national defense. the house voted to keep the federal helium reserve open. we have a helium reserve. it s in texas. officials say it dates back to 1925, when our leaders were worried they d have to fight a war against germany with zeppelins. the reserve was supposed to shut down when it repays the debt to government. the senate is working on a similar bill to prevent that. supports say they expect it will pass. a brother and sister say they had to swim 14 hours when they t boat went down. the waves were twice their size. after reaching land, they had to hike another three hours before they found help. police say everybody on the boat survived. we are getting chilling details about the boston terror suspect from the