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Walking on Air
Inspired by how heat made light silk bags rise, Joseph-Michael and Jacques-Ètienne Montgolfier demonstrated to the French public a platform held in the sky with nothing but heated air. The worlds first hot air balloon was humanity's first defiance of gravity. -
Flight at Kitty Hawk
After a lifetime of passion and experiments, Wilber and Orville Wright completed the first flight in a motorized aircraft. That initial flight was shorter than length of a modern Boing 737, yet it inspired all future expansions to aviation. -
Zepplin Bombing
Hot air balloons had been been used for military sentries and scouts, this was the first combat use of them. From occupied Belgium, Germany launch an air raid against Britain. -
The Transatlantic Flight
At the hand of Major George Herbert Scott, the airship successfully navigated across the Atlantic, from Scottland to New York. -
Charles Lindbergh
Aboard his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh completed the first successful fight across the Atlantic Ocean in an Airplane. This demonstrated the rapid advancement of this very young invention compared to its predecessor, the airship. -
Pearl Harbor
"A date that shall live in infamy..."
The Naval base in Pearl Harbor was thought to be un attackable, as the barrier island, shallow waters, and bulk of ships made it impenetrable by ships and submersibles. The Japanese planes, fitted with shallow torpedoes, decimated the American Pacific Fleet harbored there. -
The Battle of Midway
After the attack on Pearl Harbor demonstrated the devastating effectiveness of aviation, the United States and Empire of Japan were poised for one epic showdown to determine supremacy over the Pacific. Not only did the carrier ships win the day for the Americans, but they signaled the end of the Battleship and the rise of the Aircraft. -
ME - 262
The Messerschmit was the first jetplane to enter combat. Though it held a severe technologically advantage over the P-51 Mustang, America's best, Hitler was unable to deploy it early enough to swing the tide of World War II. -
Sputnik
A technological achievement for the Soviet Union, and the world, the Russians were the first to successfully launch an artificial satellite into Earth's orbit. -
Apollo 11
In response to the the Soviet's rapid Space Program, the United States quickly accelerated their efforts and entered the Space Race. After several trial missions, Lance Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, with Michael Collins orbiting above, were the first men to set foot on the Moon.
