The History of Flight

Flying Machine

Jun 19, 1488

More Info After studying birds in action, Leonardo da Vinci sketches a flying machine.

Manned Balloon

Nov 21, 1783

More Info On November 21, in Paris, France, the Montgolfier brothers launch the first manned balloon.

Engine Powered Aircrafts

Jul 11, 1903

[More Info](ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimotor) Orville and Wilbur Wright take the first controlled flights in an engine-powered aircraft.

Fighter Airplanes

Jun 28, 1914

More Info Fighter airplanes take to the skies during World War I. They are first used to spy and later for battle.

U.S Airlines

Jun 15, 1920

More Info U.S. airlines begin to deliver mail and carry passengers. The earliest passenger planes are remodeled World War I bombers.

Charles A. Lindbergh

Nov 9, 1927

More Info Charles A. Lindbergh, an American, makes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Amelia Earhart

Mar 17, 1932

More Info American Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Jet-powered airplane

Apr 27, 1939

More Info A jet-powered airplane flies for the first time.

Chuck Yeager

Oct 14, 1947

More info U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager flies faster than the speed of sound.

Yuri Gagarin

Apr 12, 1961

More Info Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to travel into space.

British Airways

Jan 21, 1976

More Info British Airways and Air France begin speedy passenger flights on planes that travel faster than sound. Called the Concorde.

U.S. Air Force's X-47A

Jul 30, 2001

More Info The U.S. Air Force's X-47A, a pilotless fighter plane, flies for the first time in a test over California.The Northrop Grumman X-47 is a demonstration Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle. The X-47 began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the United States Navy's UCAS-D program to create a carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Unlike the Boeing X-45, initial Pegasus development was company-funded.