their airplane in a successful transatlantic flight across the South Atlantic Ocean, from Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands, to Port Natal, Brazil, a distance of . The distance was slightly more than one third of the distance between New York and Paris, subject of the Orteig Prize, which would be awarded for the first transatlantic crossing between two continents. February 23, 1927 (Wednesday) Werner Heisenberg wrote a 14-page letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, describing for the first time a key concept in quantum mechanics that would become known as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The Radio Act of 1927 was signed into law by U.S. President Coolidge. Born: Régine Crespin, French opera soprano, in Marseille (d. 2007) February 24, 1927 (Thursday) The Fox Film Corporation gave its first demonstration of the process that it would use for a new feature, Movietone News, that would allow filmgoers to see and hear scenes from recent events. Fifty reporters were escorted into Fox-Case's New York studios at 10:00 that morning and filmed. Four hours later, the same group saw and heard themselves when the film of the press conference was screened. Died: William Fuld, 56, inventor of the Ouija Board, after falling from the roof of a three-story building. February 25, 1927 (Friday) The McFadden Act was signed into law by U.S. President Coolidge, prohibiting commercial banks from establishing branches in more than one state. The act would not be completely repealed until 1994, when the Riegle-Neal Act was passed. On the same day, President Coolidge vetoed the McNary–Haugen Farm Relief Bill, which had passed the Senate 47-39, and the House of Representatives 214-178. Congress failed to override the veto, as well as being unable to overcome a second veto of a new version in 1928. Domestic farm price supports would become law in 1933. February 26, 1927 (Saturday) Instant communication between San Francisco and London (and by extension, the Western United States and Europe), was first achieved at 7:30 am Pacific time and 3:30 pm GMT. H.D. Pillsbury of Pacific Telephone and Telegraph spoke to Col. H.E. Shreeve, an AT&T representative away in Britain. In 1915, the two men had spoken during the first phone conversation between San Francisco and New York. "The inauguration of this service", noted one account, "completes the final tie-up in trans-atlantic radio telephone service between the entire United States and England, Scotland and Wales." Born: