| Leonardo
da Vinci designs a flying machine |
1487 |
| Francesco
de Lana designs the first airship |
1670 |
| Laurenco
de Gusmao fails in his attempt to launch a bird-shaped glider |
1709 |
| Joseph
and Jacques Montgolfier's hot air balloon reaches a height of 6,560
feet (2,000 m) |
1783 |
| Jacques
Charles tests the first hydrogen hot air balloon in Paris |
1783 |
| Jean
Blanchard and John Jeffries become the first to cross the English
Channel by air balloon |
1785 |
| Pilâtre
de Rozier and Pierre Romain become the first men to be killed in
a hot air balloon |
1785 |
| André
Jacques Garnerin makes first successful parachute jump above Paris |
1797 |
| Jeanne-Genevieve
Garnerin, became the first woman to make a parachute jump |
1799 |
| André
Jacques Garnerin makes parachute jump of 8,000 feet (2,438 m) |
1802 |
| Jacob
Degen survives a crash in Vienna in his ornithopter |
1809 |
| The
Vauxhall air balloon flies from England to Germany, covering 480
miles in 18 hours |
1836 |
| George
Cayley builds a triplane glider |
1849 |
| Henri
Gifford builds an airship powered by a 3-hp steam engine |
1852 |
| Louis
Charles Letur builds a parachute-glider in France |
1853 |
| A
triplane built by George Cayley flies 900 feet (275 m) across a
small valley |
1853 |
| Louis
Charles Letur is killed in his pilot-controlled air machine |
1854 |
| Alphonse
Pénaud's aeroplane travels 131 feet (39.92 m) in 11 seconds |
1871 |
| Vincent
de Groof is killed when his aircraft launched from a balloon crashes |
1874 |
| Alexander
Mozhaiski's aeroplane travels 98 feet (29.87 m) at Krasnoye Selo,
Russia |
1884 |
| Otto
Lilienthal, a German engineer, publishes a book outlining his theories
on flight |
1889 |
| Clement
Adler's aircraft, Eole, travels 165 feet (50.29 m) at Gretz |
1890 |
| Percy
Pilcher flies his Bat glider for the first time |
1895 |
| Otto
Lilienthal, the German engineer, is killed while flying his recently
designed glider |
1896 |
| Percy
Pilcher is killed when flying his new aircraft, the Hawk |
1899 |
| The
LZ airship, designed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, makes its
first flight |
1900 |
| Samuel
Pierpont Langley builds the first aircraft powered by a gasoline
engine |
1901 |
| Samuel
Pierpont Langley abandons his experiments when his aircraft, Aerodrome,
crashes |
1903 |
| Orville
and Wilber Wright's fly the first heavier-than-air machine at Kitty
Hawk |
1903 |
| Orville
and Wilber Wright's Flyer II fails to take-off |
1904 |
| Ferdinand
Ferber builds a biplane glider with fixed tail |
1904 |
| Orville
and Wilber Wright's Flyer III flies 24.2 miles (38.95 km) in 38
minutes |
1905 |
| Blériot
VII reaches a speed of about 50 mph (80 kpm) |
1907 |
| Louis
Bleriot becomes the first man to fly across the English Channel |
1909 |
| The
establishment of the Aéronautique Militaire |
1910 |
| First
parachute jump from an aeroplane take place at St. Louis |
1912 |
| The
establishment of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) |
1912 |
| A
Zeppelin airship bombs Liege in Belgium |
1914 |
| Roland
Garros uses deflector plates |
1915 |
| Zeppelin
raid on London kills 28 people |
1915 |
| First
lightweight aircraft receiver tested in England |
1916 |
| First
heavy bomber, the Handley Page, goes into action |
1916 |
| Charles
Augustus Lindbergh flies nonstop between New York and Paris |
1927 |
| Amelia
Earhart becomes the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean |
1928 |
| Robert
Watson-Watt demonstrates his radar system to Air Ministry |
1935 |
| The
Hawker Hurricane, designed by Sydney Camm, makes its first flight |
1935 |
| The
Spitfire, designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, makes its first flight |
1936 |
| The
Messerschmitt 110 makes its first flight |
1936 |
| Frank
Whittle tests the first prototype jet engine |
1937 |
| Amelia
Earhart killed during an attempt on a round-the-world flight |
1937 |
| Junkers
Ju 88A makes its first flight |
1939 |
| The
Vought Corsair becomes the first fighter aircraft to fly at 400
mph |
1940 |
| Frank
Whittle's jet-propelled Gloster E28 takes its first flight |
1941 |
| Wernher
von Braun demonstrates his V2 Rocket to Nazi leaders |
1942 |
| The
Messerschmitt Me 262 makes its first test flight |
1942 |
| The
B-29 Superfortress makes its first flight |
1942 |
| Wing
Commander Guy Gibson leads the Dambusters Raid |
1943 |
| The
Arado Ar 234, the world's first jet bomber, makes its first flight |
1943 |
| Gloster
Meteor, Britain's first jet-fighter, is used by the Royal Air Force |
1944 |
| The
turbo-jet Heinkel He 162 makes its first test flight |
1944 |
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