Looking for a date in history that marks a special moment in the history of flight? Scroll down and find out when the first flight over the Atlantic Ocean was completed or when the first flight into space was achieved. What is your favorite moment in flight history?
This timeline was put together with the help of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Evolution of Flight campaign. See a more detailed Timeline on the History of Flight. There you can also see the history of flight from 19 countries around the world.
1300
1300s - Marco Polo witnessed kites carrying humans in China
1400
1488-1514 - In Italy, Leonardo de Vinci made the first design of flying machines, using bird wings for models
1700s
June 4, 1783 - The balloon of the Montgolfier brothers becomes the first unmanned balloon flight. The balloon was propelled by burning a pile of moist wool and old shoes
September 19, 1783 - The Montgolfier Brothers successfully attempt the second trial of their hot-air balloon in Paris before King Louis XVI. This flight has passengers aboard: a rooster, a duck, and a sheep
December 1, 1783 - Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles makes the first solo flight in a hot-air balloon. He flew over 36 kilometers at an altitude of 3,500 meters
January 19, 1784 - Joseph Montgolfier flies aboard his invention for the first time with six other passengers
1800s
1865 - Jules Verne publishes his novel, entitled From the Earth to the Moon
May 6, 1896 - Samuel P. Langley, the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, succeeded in launching the first reasonably large, steam-powered model aircraft on flights of up to three quarters of a mile over the Potomac River.
May 30, 1899 - Wilbur Wright writes the Smithsonian Institute and affirms his belief that human flight was possible
1900s
July 2, 1900 - The first flight of the Zeppelin, a "rigid" airship that was the first aircraft to use large metal structures
October 22, 1900 - The Wright Brothers make their first glider flight
March 23, 1903 - The Wright Brothers apply for patents on their improved glider and flying machine
September 25, 1903 - The Wright Brothers arrive in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to prepare for their historical flight
December 17, 1903 - The Wright Flyer lifts into the air at 10:35 am. The flight lasted only 12 seconds and covered a distance of just 121 feet (37 m). It is the first powered, manned, heavier-than-air, controlled flight.
December 18, 1903 - Only three newspapers in the United States mention the Wright Brothers' flight and their accounts are largely imaginative
June 9, 1907 - The first building at any exposition devoted exclusively to aeronautics in the history of the world is dedicated at the Jamestown Exposition (U.S.A.)
November 13, 1907 - First helicopter flown by Paul Cornu, a French inventor. The flight lasted only 20 seconds and hovered just 1 foot (30 cm) above the ground
July 25, 1909 - Blériot XI: First cross Channel flight by Louis Blériot
September 7, 1909 - The U.S. Army's first aerodrome established in College Park, Maryland
1910s
May 25, 1910 - Orville and Wilbur Wright make a short flight at Huffman Field, Dayton, Ohio. It is the only time the Wright Brothers are in the air together
September 1911 - The first air mail in the U.S. is carried by Eagle Ovington from Nassua Boulevard Aerodrome, New York to Mineola, New York
December 10, 1911 - Cal Rodgers completes the first transcontinental flight in the Wright EX "Vin Fiz" from Long Island, New York to Pasadena, California.
March 1, 1912 - Capt. Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a powered airplane
April 16, 1912 - American Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to pilot a plane across the English Channel
November 18, 1913 - Lincoln Beachey flies his specially-built Curtiss biplane upside and down and also executes the first "loop" ever accomplished in the air
1914 - Two-way radio contact accomplished between pilot and ground control
September 2, 1916 - Airplanes in flight communicate with each other directly by radio for the first time
1919 - First sustained international commercial passenger air service initiated between Paris and Brussels
May 16-27, 1919 - NC-4 (Navy Curtiss flying boats): First aircraft to span the Atlantic by American Lieutenant Commander A. C. Read
July 14-15, 1919 - Vickers Vimy: First nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by British Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Albert Brown, from Newfoundland to Ireland
1920s
May 2-3, 1923 - Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready complete the first nonstop coast to coast airplane flight. New York to San Diego - 26 hours, 50 minutes
September 28, 1924 - The first round-the-world flight is completed in Seattle, Washington by three, two-seat Douglas World Cruisers of the US Army Air Service.
March 16, 1926 - Robert Goddard launches the World's first liquid propellant rocket in an orchard. The rocket climbed 41 feet in two-and-a-half-seconds and landed 184 feet away
May 9, 1926 - Comdr. Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett complete the first flight over the North Pole.
1927 - Air-cooled engines replaced water-cooled engines, which reduced weight and made bigger and faster planes possible
1927 - The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, at its Langley Field, Virginia, Laboratories, builds the first wind tunnel large enough to test a full-size airplane
May 20-21, 1927 - Spirit of St. Louis: First nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic by Charles A. Lindbergh
June 17, 1928 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic
1929 - The Link Trainer, the first electro-mechanical flight simulator, was invented
1929 - A survey by an aviation magazine reports that 1,400 aeroengineering students were enrolled in more than a dozen schools across the United States
1929 - Fritz Opel of Germany flew the first rocket-powered plane for 1 minute 15 seconds
1929 - William Green developed the first automatic pilot used on an airliner
August 1929 - Several small solid-propellant rockets were attached to a Junkers-33 seaplane and the first jet-assisted airplane takeoff was recorded September 24, 1929 - James H. Doolittle becomes the first to fly entirely by use of instruments and radio aids from takeoff to landing without reference to the ground
1930s
1931 - Britain's' Frank Whittle designed and patented the first jet engine
October 4-5, 1931 - First nonstop crossing of the Pacific: Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon in a Bellanca CH-400, Japan to Wenatchee, WA
May 20-21, 1932 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
November 19, 1932 - A national monument, commemorating the Wright Brothers' flight, is dedicated in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
1934 - American Airlines developed and tested the first automatic direction-finder for airplanes
January 11-12, 1935 - Amelia Earhart makes the first solo flight from Hawaii to the American mainland
December 1, 1935 - The first airway traffic control center went into operation at Newark, New Jersey
December 17, 1935 - The DC-3, the first successful passenger airliner, takes off for the first time from Santa Monica, California
1936 - Lockheed Aircraft Corporation built the first pressurized cabin plane
May 12, 1936 - The world's largest high-speed wind tunnel is put into operation at Langley Field Laboratories of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
1937 - Tricycle landing gear, used on many midget planes, is practically applied to conventional full-size airplanes this year
June 28, 1939 - Pan American Airways flew the first trans-Atlantic passenger service
August 24, 1939 - The Heinkel He 178 makes the first jet-powered flight
September 14, 1939 - The VS-300 becomes the first practical helicopter to ever take off. Igor Sikorsky himself piloted the vehicle and on his first flight, Sikorsky was able to lift off 3 ft for about 10 seconds
1940s
1940 - Northrop introduces the N-1M Flying Wing, the first flying wing airplane with pilot, engine, and fuselage in a single airfoil structure
July 8, 1940 - The first flight of the Boeing Stratoliner, the first airliner with a pressurized cabin. This allowed the plane to fly up to 20,000 feet, avoiding turbulence
1942 - The German Heinkel He 219 becomes the first aircraft to be equipped with crew ejection seats as standard equipment
September 14, 1944 - U.S. Col. Floyd B. Wood, Major Harry Wexler, and Lt. Frank Record, flying in a Douglas A-20 "Havoc," successfully carry out the first attempt to fly into the heart of a hurricane to obtain valuable scientific data
January 20, 1945 - Robert T. Jones formulates the swept wing to overcome shockwave effects
March 22, 1946 - The WAC, the first American-built rocket to actually leave the Earth's atmosphere, reaches an altitude of 50 miles
August 12, 1946 - President Truman signs a bill authorizing appropriation of $50,000 to establish a National Air Museum in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
1947 - The F-86 "Sabre Jet" made by North American Aviation became America's first single-seat, swept-wing jet fighter
October 14, 1947 - Capt. Charles E. Yeager flies faster than sound for the first time in the rocket powered Bell X-1
January 5, 1949 - Capt. Charles E. Yeager sets a new unofficial climbing speed record of more than 13,000 ft. per minute in the Bell X-1 at Muroc
1950s
November 5, 1952 - The Cessna XL-19B, the world's first turboprop light plane, makes its first flight in Wichita, Kansas
November 24, 1954 - The First Air Force One is christened
September 7, 1956 - The Bell X-2 rocket plane sets an altitude record at over 126,000 feet
1957 - The Boeing 707 became the first successful jet airliner to enter passenger service
January 15-18, 1957 - First jet flight around the world
October 4, 1957 - The Russians launch Sputnik I, the first artificial Earth satellite
November 3, 1957 - Sputnik II is launched carrying the dog "Laika"
1958 - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was established in the United States
October 1, 1958 - NASA becomes operational
October 11, 1958 - Pioneer 1: NASA's first launch
December 19, 1958 - First transmission and reception of a human voice from space
March 3, 1959 - Pioneer 4: First successful U.S. flyby of the Moon
September 15, 1959 - A. Scott Crossfield became the first to pilot the fastest and highest flying aircraft in history, the rocket powered X-15.
1960s
April 1, 1960 - Tiros I: First weather satellite launched
April 12, 1961 - Vostok I: First human being (Maj. Yuri Gagarin) to travel in space by completing one full orbit of the earth
May 5, 1961 - Freedom 7: First U.S. human (Alan Shepard) space flight
February 20, 1962 - Friendship 7: First American (John Glenn) to orbit Earth
December 14, 1962 - Mariner 2: First successful planetary flyby (Venus)
June 16, 1963 - Russian Cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, becomes the first woman to solo in space
August 22, 1963 - X-15 (experimental aircraft) sets altitude record of 354,200 feet (67 miles) with a speed of 4,159 mph
March 19, 1964 - Geraldine Mock, in a Cessna 180, becomes the first woman to fly around the world
October 30, 1964 - NASA pilot Joseph Walker conducts first flight in Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV)
March 18, 1965 - Alexei Leonov takes first walk in space
June 3-7, 1965 - Gemini IV: First U.S. spacewalk (by Ed White) launched June 3
July 14, 1965 - Mariner 4: First flyby of Mars
1966 - The Lunar Orbiter was the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the moon
December 21-27 - Apollo 8: First human flight to orbit the moon (Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders)
January 16, 1969 - First docking of two manned spacecraft in orbit, Soyuz 4 and 5
March 2, 1969 - The first flight of the Concorde
July 16-24, 1969 - Apollo 11: First human lunar landing. At 4:18 p.m. EST on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the lunar surface while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited overhead. "That's one small step for man - one giant leap for mankind."
1970s
March 9, 1971 - NASA research pilot Thomas McMurtry completed the first flight in an F-8A, modified with Langley researcher Richard Whitcomb's supercritical wing
September 3, 1971 - The Concorde makes its first transatlantic crossing
November 13, 1971 - Mariner 9: First mission to orbit another planet arrived (Mars)
December 2, 1971 - First soft landing on Mars
January 5, 1972 - NASA announces the space shuttle program
May 14, 1973 - Skylab: Unmanned space station launched
December 3, 1973 - Pioneer 10: First flyby past Jupiter
July 20, 1976 - Viking 1: First U.S. landing on another planet (Mars)
September 3, 1976 - Viking 2: Second U.S. landing on another planet (Mars)
February 18, 1977 - Enterprise, the first space shuttle orbiter, was flight tested at Dryden Flight Research Center
August 23, 1977 - The man-powered aircraft Gossamer Condor successfully demonstrated sustained, maneuverable man-powered flight
July 24, 1979 - NASA research pilot Thomas McMurtry conducted the first flight of a KC-135 jet, with winglets, to demonstrate fuel efficiency.
1980s
November - Solar Challenger: First solar powered plane flew
April 12-14, 1981 - Launch of STS-1, the first test flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia (John Young, Bob Crippen). The mission was the first to employ both liquid- and solid-propellant rocket engines for the launch of a spacecraft carrying humans
1982 - Perot and Coburn of the U.S. complete the first around-the-world flight in a helicopter
November 11-16, 1982 - STS-5, Space Shuttle Columbia, launched on first operational mission. Astronauts deployed two commercial communications satellites
June 18-24, 1983 - STS-7 launched and Sally K. Ride became the first American female Astronaut
December 23, 1986 - Voyager: first nonstop flight around the world without refueling (Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan)
1989 - The V-22 Tiltrotor Osprey becomes the first production airplane to demonstrate the vertical lift capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range capabilities of an airplane
July 1989 - The U.S. Air Force's B-2 "Spirit" bomber blends composite materials with stealth technology.
1990s
1994 - Test flight of Boeing 777; the first aircraft to be designed entirely on a computer
April 27, 1995 - The Global Positioning System, becomes fully operational
July 4 - December, 1997 - Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner explored the Red Planet (Mars)
March 12, 1998 - First test flight of the X-38, a spacecraft design planned for use as a future International Space Station emergency crew return "lifeboat"
October 24, 1998 - Deep Space 1, the first ion propulsion spacecraft, was launched to fly in space
October 29-November 7, 1998 - STS-95: At age 77, John Glenn becomes the oldest astronaut in space
November 20, 1998 - Zarya, an unpiloted space "tugboat" that provides early propulsion, steering and communications for the International Space Station, is the first element launched
December 6, 1998 - Unity, a six-sided connector for future station components, is connected to Zarya by Shuttle
Mission STS-88. Together, the two modules form the new, 70,000-pound, 76-foot long International Space Station
March 20, 1999 - After a 46,759-mile balloon flight which lasted 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes, the Breitling
Orbiter 3 balloon, flown by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, achieves a non-stop round-the-world balloon flight
July 22-27, 1999 - STS-93 launched and Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to command an American space mission
2000s
July 30, 2002 - The first successful flight test of a hypersonic scramjet engine in Australia. This air-breathing scramjet engine, which burns hydrogen fuel, could theoretically power aircraft at Mach 8, for two-hour trans-Atlantic flights.
December 17, 2003 - 100th Anniversary of Flight
