Historical challenge prizes

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10. The Orteig Prize

Year: 1919-1927
Promoter: Raymond Orteig
Prize: $25,000 (Today's value $291,500)
Winner: Charles Lindburgh

A prize was offered in 1919 by Raymond Orteig for the first pilot to fly an aircraft non-stop from New York to Paris.

The exact call was for the "first aviator who shall cross the Atlantic in a land or water aircraft (heavier than air) from Paris or the shores of France to New York or from New York to Paris without a stop."

The challenge had to be extended by another five years because no one dared such a dangerous flight. 

A young man called Charles Lindburgh, an airmail pilot, eventually won the prize in 1927.

* Lindburgh with his plane in 1928. Image courtesy of Detlev Van Ravenswaay/Science Photo Library