1500s to 1899 in aviation

1638: John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, suggests some ideas to future would-be pilots in his The Discover of the World in the Moon book.
1709: Father Laurenco de Gusmao designs a model hot air balloon.
1783: Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis dArlandes invent the first manned hot air balloon that flies.
1793: Jean-Pierre Blanchard makes first flight to the United States, on a hydrogen balloon.
1848 John Stringfellow builds a steam powered model aircraft, with a wingspan of 3.5 metres, which successfully flies a distance of 40 metres before crashing into a wall. Thus achieving the world's first powered flight.
1853 Sir George Cayley's coachman successfully flies a glider, designed by his employer, Sir George Cayley, a distance of 100-200 metres across Brompton Dale in Yorkshire.
1855 Joseph Pline is the first person to use the word "aeroplane" is a paper proposing a gas filled dirigible glider with propellers.

1900s in aviation

1900 in aviation: The Zeppelin air ship makes its first flight.
1901 in aviation: Alberto Santos-Dumont attempts his first flight.
1902 in aviation: First Balloon flight in Antarctica, Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton ascend to 244 metres in a tethered hydrogen balloon on February 4 - to take the first Antarctic aerial photographs. class="external">[1. Also professor Erich von Drygalski's 1901-1903 German Antartic Expedition uses a balloon to survey the Antartic coast of Wilhelm II Land.
1903 in aviation: March 31 Richard Pearse flies - uncontrolled and poorly documented, also first crash landing, on a hedge, of a motor powered aircraft. Followed by Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright's flying machine takes off for the first time on December 17.
1904 in aviation: The Wrights ask for patents for their flying machine in Germany and France.
1905 in aviation: Wilbur Wright flies for 38 minutes.
1906 in aviation: Alberto Santos-Dumont becomes first to fly in Europe.
1907 in aviation: Robert Esnault-Pelterie becomes first pilot to fly using a control stick.
1908 in aviation: The United States Army announces plans to buy flying machines.
1909 in aviation: Louis Bleriot becomes first person to fly over the English Channel.

1910s in aviation

1910 in aviation: Frederick Baldwin and J.A.D. McCurdy, using a Curtiss byplane, are the first pilots to send radio messages to the ground.
1911 in aviation: Andre Beaumont beats Roland Garros in the Paris to Rome air race.
1912 in aviation: King George V approves the Royal Flying Corps, establishing England's first Air Force.
1913 in aviation: China receives its first air fleet, 12 planes designed by French plane maker Rene Cuadron
1914 in aviation: The St. Petersburg/Tampa Airboat Line starts services, becoming the first airline to provide services. A.C. Pheil is the first airline passenger.
1915 in aviation: Aerobatic ace Adolphe Pegoud dies from hemorrage after landing his plane successfully.
1916 in aviation: William Boeing commences to build planes with his company, The Boeing Co
1917 in aviation: Manfred von Richthofen's Red Baron plane flies.
1918 in aviation: The Red Baron is shot and Manfred von Richthofen dies.
1919 in aviation: Henry Farman carries 11 paying passengers in his F.60 Goliath plane from Paris to London, in what became the first commercial flight between the two European cities. NC-4, then Alcock & Brown, fly across the Atlantic. Avianca begins services.

1920s in aviation

1920 in aviation: KLM and Qantas begin services.
1921 in aviation: Bessie Coleman, an African-American woman, attends flying school in France. Mexicana de Aviacion begins services.
1922 in aviation: The first commercial night flight between London and Paris is completed.
1923 in aviation: Army lieutenants Oakley G. Kelly and John A. MacReady complete the first non-stop flight from New York to Los Angeles in history. Sabena starts services.
1924 in aviation: Imperial Airways begins services. Huff Daland Dusters, later to become Delta Airlines, begins services.
1925 in aviation: In Germany, in-flight silent movies are shown in commercial airliners for the first time.
1926 in aviation: A merge of the two leading German airlines results in the creation of Lufthansa. United Airlines established.
1927 in aviation: Charles Lindbergh flies The Spirit of St. Louis.
1928 in aviation: Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
1929 in aviation: LOT Polish Airlines, Cubana de Aviacion and Pan Am begin services.

1930s in aviation

1937 in aviation
1938 in aviation
1939 in aviation

1940s in aviation

1944 in aviation: Saudi Arabian Airlines begins services.
1945 in aviation
1946 in aviation
1947 in aviation
1948 in aviation
1949 in aviation: Aerolineas Argentinas established.

1950s in aviation

1950 in aviation: Arrow Air begins services.
1951 in aviation
1952 in aviation
1953 in aviation: Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
1954 in aviation
1955 in aviation
1956 in aviation
1957 in aviation
1958 in aviation
1959 in aviation: Rock stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper die when their plane crashes during snow storm in Iowa.

1960s in aviation

1966 in aviation: Puerto Rican International Airlines begin services.
1967 in aviation
1968 in aviation
1969 in aviation: World champion boxer Rocky Marciano perishes when his plane, which he was piloting himself, crashes.

1970s in aviation

1970 in aviation

1971 in aviation

1972 in aviation

1973 in aviation: Icelandair established.
1974 in aviation
1975 in aviation
1976 in aviation
1977 in aviation
1978 in aviation
1979 in aviation

1980s in aviation

(see 1980s in aviation)

1980 in aviation
1981 in aviation
1982 in aviation: Braniff International stops flying, Pan Am Boeing 727 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana.
1983 in aviation
1984 in aviation
1985 in aviation: TWA Boeing 727 hijacked over the Mediterranean.
1986 in aviation
1987 in aviation
1988 in aviation: The ATR-72 makes its maiden flight. Pan Am flight 103 explodes over Scotland.
1989 in aviation: The ATR-72 begins commercial services, with Kar Air

1990s in aviation

1996 in aviation: TWA flight 800 explodes off the coast of New York, seven year old pilot Jessica Dubroff dies during attempt to set record.
1997 in aviation
1998 in aviation
1999 in aviation: Fear of the Y2K computer virus and possible in-flight consequences for those planes flying during the night of December 31, 1999 and the early morning of January 1, 2000, spreads around the airline industry.

2000s in aviation

2000 in aviation

2001 in aviation: 4 jet-liners, 2 each of American Airlines and United Airlines, are hijacked and crashed in the September 11 terrorist attacks, killing more than 3,000 people.
2002 in aviation
2003 in aviation: Fina Air begins services.

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