Re: What is the first man made object to break the sound barrier?

The most notable breaking of the sound barrier (going faster than
the speed of sound ~760 miles/hour = Mach 1) is probably Chuck
Yeager's flight in 1947.  This was the first time a plane was able
to travel faster than the speed of sound.  However, long before this
at least one other common object was able to break the sound barrier,
a whip.  The crack of a whip occurs when the tip of the whip travels
faster than the speed of sound.  The air pressure caused by the tip
of the whip running into the air can't immediately escape because it
can't move out of the way of the whip.  This build up is responsible
for the loud crack that you hear.  This crack is the same thing as the
sonic boom heard when jets travel faster than the speed of sound.

I'd imagine that whips have been used for a long time, but I have no
way of saying if they were the first objects to break the sound barrier.