Photo: Air France / British Airways Concorde landing at JFK Airport after first supersonic transatlantic flight, New York, New York, October 19, 1977.

(Wednesday, October 19, 1977, 11:09 a.m. EDT) — After a 19-month battle over noise and pollution, the supersonic Concorde airliner made its maiden flight into New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport today with modest noise, no organized demonstrators to greet it and nonpaying officials and test teams as its only passengers.

Scheduled passenger service from Paris and London to JFK Airport would begin on Nov. 22, 1977.

Video: 'Concorde Inaugural Flight To USA - 1977'