Born to a farming family in Virden, Illinois, Vaniman was the eldest of four sons and attended Valparaiso University in Indiana and Chicago.

It was during this time that he created his best known work, the panorama of Sydney, shot from a hot air balloon he had specially imported from the United States.

At the first attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1910, Vaniman sent one of the first aerial radio transmissions when he urged the launch boat to "come and get this goddamn cat!"

[2][3][4] They anticipated a five-day crossing, but the airship's motor failed after 38 hours, leaving it adrift until the crew (and Kiddo) was rescued two days later by the SS Trent, a passing Royal Mail steamship.

[8] The Akron had been airborne for only a few minutes when the airship suddenly exploded offshore in view of a crowd of 20,000 spectators, including the wives of Vaniman and his crew, who watched in horror as the burning gondola fell from the sky and plunged into an inlet.