August 13, 1896

Aviator Asa Rountree Jr. was born in Birmingham. Rountree trained as a pilot under the French Air Corps during World War I and flew for the U.S. Air Service. In 1936, he became the long-serving director of the Alabama Department of Aeronautics and developed an airport program for small cities that later became the national model. He served as an officer for several national aviation associations and returned to active service during World War II as an operations officer for the U.S. Army Air Corps. Rountree was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983, and the municipal airport in Hartselle is named in his honor.

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