The first great myth surrounding the airship Hindenburg was that, like the Titanic, it was on its maiden voyage when it crashed at Lakehurst, N.J., on May 6, 1937. The fact is that the dirigible made its first crossing of the Atlantic more than a year earlier when it completed a round trip to Brazil in April 1936. The Hindenburg‘s first visit to New Jersey was a month later, and on May 3, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the preparations.

“With the task of extending the airplane runways nearly finished, the U.S.