This Day in FAA History: May 2nd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19400502: President Roosevelt gave final approval for development of a version of the instrument landing system (ILS) favored by CAA. Deployment of the system was delayed, however, by continued disagreements with the military and by World War II defense priorites. ILS did not become available for civil airliners until after the war.
19520502: The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) inaugurated the first scheduled air service with turbojet airliners, de Havilland Comet I’s, operating between London and Johannesburg. (See January 10, 1954.)
19610502: The FAA Administrator and the CAB Chairman issued a joint policy statement favoring the use of a single air carrier airport serving adjacent communities when such an arrangement might cut costs and improve service. The statement indicated that this policy should be increasingly important in considering applications for airport construction grants and for certificated airline service. (See September 1965.)
19680502: The Beechcraft Model 99 received FAA type certification. The aircraft was a twin-engine, 17-passenger turboprop designed specifically for the scheduled air taxi market.
19890502: FAA commissioned the first operational ASR-9 airport surveillance radar (see September 30, 1983). The new radar employed advanced Doppler technology to filter out radar reflection, and was capable of detecting a one square meter target at a distance of 60 nautical miles. FAA planned to equip every major airport with an ASR-9, and 121 of them had been commissioned by the end of FY 1996. With the introduction of the ASR-9 radars, the older ASR-7 and -8 units would be used to replace aged ASR-4 and -5 radars.
19910502: FAA ordered the Collins version of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System used on some airliners taken out of service temporarily for correction of a computer problem that led to false traffic warnings.
19970502: FAA announced the $12.2 million purchase of additional trace detection security equipment for use at the nation’s busiest airports. (See February 12, 1997; September 25, 1998.)
20120502: FAA, state, and local officials dedicated a new air traffic control tower at the Abilene (TX) Regional Airport. The 145-foot tower, which replaced the tower commissioned in 1951, cost $9.24 million and included a nearly 400 square foot cab and 9,900 square feet for offices and training and break rooms.