The Airship Prize

From The Economist: “A CURIOUS cabal gathered recently in a converted warehouse in San Francisco for a private conference. Among them were some of the world’s leading experts in fields ranging from astrophysics and nanotechnology to health and energy. Also attending were entrepreneurs and captains of industry, including Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, and Ratan Tata, the head of India’s Tata Group. They were brought together to dream up more challenges for the X Prize Foundation, a charitable group which rewards innovation with cash. On July 29th a new challenge was announced: a $1.4m prize for anyone who can come up with a faster way to clean oil spills from the ocean.” Innovation prizes: And the winner is…

In 1900, petroleum magnate Henri Deutsch de La Meurthe offered a prize of 50,000 francs to the first man who could fly around the Eiffel Tower, taking off and landing at Park Saint-Cloud. This had to be done by the aircraft under its own power and without landing during the flight, all to be completed in no more than 30 minutes.

The competition, open between 1 May 1900 and 1 Oct 1903, became known as the Deutsch Prize. (more…)