Albert William Stevens
An Army officer who soared into the stratosphere to capture the first photographs of Earth's curvature from a balloon.
1886–1949 (age 63)·American Army officer and photographer·Birthday: March 13·The Lost Generation
Biography
Albert William Stevens was a man who viewed the world from a different angle. An officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his passion was not for combat but for the silent, expansive frontier of the upper atmosphere. He became a master of high-altitude ballooning, treating the fragile craft as a platform for scientific discovery. His most famous exploit came in 1935 aboard the Explorer II, a record-setting ascent that took him and a companion over 72,000 feet into the sky. From that dizzying height, Stevens operated his custom-built cameras, producing stunning, unprecedented images that revealed the planet's roundness against the blackness of space. These photographs, circulated worldwide, shifted public perception of our home and paved the way for the space age. Stevens spent his later years refining aerial reconnaissance techniques, his eyes forever trained on the horizon where sky meets space.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Albert was born in 1886, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Albert Was Born
The biggest hits of 1886
Albert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1886Born
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1891Started school
President: Benjamin Harrison
1899Became a teenager
President: William McKinley
1902Could drive
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1904Could vote
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1907Turned 21
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1916Turned 30
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1926Turned 40
Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket
President: Calvin Coolidge"Baby Face" — Jan Garber
1936Turned 50
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1946Turned 60
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1949Died at 63
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
Key Achievements
- Set a world altitude record of 72,395 feet during the 1935 Explorer II balloon flight.
- Captured the first photographs clearly showing the curvature of the Earth.
- Pioneered techniques in high-altitude photography and color aerial imaging.
- Served as a technical advisor on stratospheric flight for the U.S. military.
Did You Know?
The Explorer II gondola is preserved at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his Explorer II flight.
Earlier in his career, he survived a crash landing in a Thomas-Morse MB-3 aircraft.
“From that height, the earth is a map of its own making.”
