He may be best known today for being the arch-nemesis of Snoopy from the Peanuts gang, but during World War I, the Red Baron Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen — who was in fact a baron and did fly a red plane — caused no small amount of consternation to the allied pilots. He shot down Britain’s top ace, with 16 kills to his credit, in 1917, and scored twenty one more kills after. His whole squadron. whom he trained personally, had a total of 89 confirmed victories; each member becoming an ace in his own right. But the Red Baron was not invincible.

On this day, April 21, in 1918, the Red Baron’s luck ran out, as single bullet, fired either from the ground or by the pursuing Canadian pilot Arthur Brown, pierced von Richtofen’s heart. His plane was found crashed behind the British lines. They gave him a burial with full military honors.

Von Richtofen could have walked away from the front — he had certainly nothing left to prove and more than a few times had been saved from destruction by the faster and more maneuverable British planes by only sheer luck. But he could not stay away from the front for long. His gallantry inspired many, including the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.