Sept. 1 was a special day for Wichita: It was the 100th anniversary of the day the Air Capital of World was born.

It was Sept. 1, 1916 when Clyde Cessna signed a contract at the J.J. Jones Car Co. building to start manufacturing planes, reports The Wichita Eagle.

Today, more than one-fifth of America’s civilian aircraft are built in Wichita or by Wichita companies.

“As one airline pilot once said, ‘You can’t land at any airport in the world without seeing a Wichita airplane,’ ” the story quotes Richard Harris, former chairman of the Kansas aviation centennial.