Soviet Spies, Sonic Booms, and Aerodynamics: The First Supersonic Flights

The sound barrier was officially shattered in 1947, and by the 1950s military jets started routinely breaking the sound barrier, and not just small fighters but big bombers too. So the next logical question was, when would the public go supersonic too? The early history of supersonic flight is complicated, and it involves gorgeous engineering, soviet espionage, and terrorizing citizens of Oklahoma.