With the onset of World War I and its deadly aerial dogfights between warring pilots, the rush was on to develop flying bombs and robot planes that could patrol the skies unmanned. In the United States, three men, working independently and unbeknownst to each other, developed these early forerunners to the modern-day cruise missile. Two of these men were highly educated and successful engineers who received government funding for their ideas and became well known for their pioneering research. The third man, however, was an Italian immigrant of modest means, little formal education, and no...