Southern California was perhaps the world's single most important location for the development of the industry that came to be known as aerospace. Starting in 1910 and steadily building for three decades, the region came into its own in World War 2 and continuined through the entirety of the Cold War. And then disappeared. Most of its traces were quickly erased, and few people are aware of the industry's history here, but it was a prime factor in the development of Los Angeles County.
This is the first of two parts. The second episode (#003) follows the post-Cold War remnants of the aerospace industry into what now is simply the space industry. Get the latest on how a small desert town and a ravine between Pasadena and La Cañada are home to some of Southern California's outsized contributions to the exploration of outer space.