Nov 8 1956
From The Space Library
Lt. Comdr. M. L. Lewis (USN) and Malcolm D. Ross established a world altitude record in a plastic STRATOLAB balloon by ascending to a height of 76,000 feet, taking off near Rapid City, S. Dak., and landing 175 miles away near Kennedy, Nebr., thus breaking the record of 72,394 feet set in 1935 by O. A. Anderson and A. W. Stevens.