Dover Air Force Base has been in the center of many important international events through its 80 years of existence, but none as exciting as Santa Claus’s visit aboard one of the aircraft hosted by the base in 1941.

At that time, on the eve of the United States’ involvement in World War II, the facility was known as Dover Army Air Field. It went through many name changes through the 1940s until it became Dover Air Force Base as it continues today. The base started out as a municipal airport for Dover but was taken over by the federal government for the war effort and has continued in that role ever since.