Shown just before touchdown at 90 mph, SpaceShipOne returns to the runway on a previous test flight.
Image credit: Scaled Composites; image source: popsci.com

On this date in 2004, the first private manned spaceflight occurred. Scaled Composite’s SpaceShip One, designed by Burt Rutan and flown by self-taught civilian pilot Mike Melville, reached an altitude of 62 miles on its suborbital flight.

You can read more about Scaled Composites on their website here.