In a Fourth of July speech dedicated largely to American military might, Donald Trump claimed US Army troops “took over the airports” during a conflict which broke out almost a century before the first planes took flight.

Allaying fears he would turn the "Salute to America" address at the Lincoln Memorial into a campaign-style rally, Mr Trump avoided political point-scoring and kept largely to a script, part of which detailed American military achievements throughout history.

“Our army manned the amparts (sic), it ranned (sic) the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do,” Mr Trump said, apparently struggling to read from the autocue.

Though it was unclear if he was referring to a moment during the Revolutionary War or the later War of 1812, which was also fought between British and American troops, Mr Trump was out by at least 89 years – the Wright brothers would not pilot the first powered flight until 1903.

The comment sparked mockery from some of the president’s critics.

All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Show all 7 1 /7 All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Million Man March 95 - 837,000 Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan called the Million Man March in 1995 in order that black men could improve their image in society AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Million Mom March - Over 700,000 Demanding sensible gun legislation, over 700,000 mothers, grandmothers and other marched on Washington in the year 2000 AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom - 300,000 The 1963 march that saw Martin Luther King give his famous 'I have a dream' speech drew 300,000 people to the National Mall to demand civil rights AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Women's March - Over 200,000 The day after the inauguration of President Trump, women all over the world took to the streets in protest of his comments on women. 200,000 marched on Washington alone. AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March for Women's Lives - 1.1 million A pro-choice rally in 2004 drew over a million people to the National Mall to protest against the Bush administration's policies on family planning and reproductive health issues Reuters All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC March on Washington for LGBT rights - Over 1,000,000 Over 1,000,000 people marched on Washington in April 1993 to demand greater rights for LGBT people AFP/Getty All the times that bigger crowds than Trump's showed up to DC Obama's Inauguration - 1.1 million The inauguration on Barack Obama in January 2009 drew 1.1 million (top) people to the National Mall, the highest number since Lyndon B Johnson's second inauguration in 1965. President Trump falsely claimed that his crowd (bottom) was bigger Reuters

“This is a president too stupid to know what he’s saying, a White House too incompetent to do basic fact checking, or someone with a serious reading problem,” tweeted Chris Lu, former deputy secretary of labour in the Obama administration.

Andrew Stroehlein, a director at Human Rights Watch, sarcastically hailed Britain’s “legendary” air superiority in 18th century conflicts.

Mr Trump’s slip of the tongue came just days after he appeared confounded by questions about school “busing” and “Western-style democratic liberalism” during a press conference at the G20 in Japan.

Asked about Vladimir Putin’s claim liberalism was in decline, Mr Trump appeared to believe it was a reference to “liberals” in California, and launched into a rant against the leadership in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

He also appeared to believe a question about busing – a method intended to help achieve racial integration in schools – was literally just about buses.