BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - On this day in 1910, Charles Willard became the first person to fly an airplane in Vermont.

Nearly 7 years after the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, Willard delighted the crowd at the Caledonia County fair in St. Johnsbury with 2 successful flights.

On this day in 1981, Church Street Marketplace formally opened.

It was a controversial and revolutionary idea to turn Burlington’s busiest commercial street into a pedestrian mall.

It was just the 2 center blocks at first. The top block was added in 1994, and the block between Main and College didn’t become pedestrian-only until 2005.

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