I have become quite interested in Igor Sikorsky, the helicopter man. There is debate about whether he "invented" the helicopter or not, but he certainly got the helicopter industry going. And, he liked to fly around in them wearing a dandy hat.
Sikorksy emigrated from Russia to the USA after WW1, as he couldn't find any interest in helicopters in Europe in a time of massive disarmament. Many other Russians escaping the civil war flooded into America at about the same time. Who put up the money for Sikorsky's first big venture in the USA? Rachmaninoff!
