Curated timeline

Human Flight Evolution

Take to the skies. From the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to the jet age, supersonic travel, and the future of aviation.

• First Recorded Flight Attempt (852 CE)

  Abbas ibn Firnas makes first recorded attempt at human flight using primitive glider with silk and eagle feathers.

• Eilmer's Flight Attempt (1010)

  Eilmer of Malmesbury attempts flight from abbey tower using attached wings.

• Leonardo's Flying Machine Designs (1485)

  Leonardo da Vinci designs ornithopter and studies bird flight mechanics.

• First Human Flight (November 21, 1783)

  First human flight achieved in Montgolfier hot air balloon over Paris by Pilâtre de Rozier and d'Arlandes.

• First Glider Flight with Passenger (1853)

  Sir George Cayley's coachman makes first recorded glider flight carrying human passenger.

• Systematic Gliding Experiments (1891-1896)

  Otto Lilienthal conducts systematic gliding experiments with over 2,000 flights.

• First Powered Flight (Wright Bros) (December 17, 1903)

  Wright Brothers achieve first powered, sustained, controlled heavier-than-air flight at Kitty Hawk (12 seconds, 120 feet).

• First Cross-Channel Flight (July 25, 1909)

  Louis Blériot makes first airplane crossing of English Channel.

• First Transcontinental Flight (1911)

  First transcontinental flight across United States by Calbraith Perry Rodgers (49 days with stops).

• First Aircraft Exceeds 100 mph (1913)

  First aircraft exceeds 100 mph (Maurice Prévost).

• First Scheduled Passenger Service (1914)

  First scheduled passenger airline service begins.

• First Non-stop Transatlantic Flight (June 14-15, 1919)

  First non-stop transatlantic flight by Alcock and Brown (Newfoundland to Ireland, 16 hours).

• First Round-the-World Flight (1924)

  First round-the-world flight by U.S. Army Air Service (175 days with stops).

• First Liquid-Fueled Rocket (March 16, 1926)

  Robert Goddard launches first liquid-fueled rocket.

• Lindbergh's Solo Transatlantic Flight (May 20-21, 1927)

  Lindbergh's first solo non-stop transatlantic flight (New York to Paris, 33.5 hours).

• First Trans-Pacific Flight (1928)

  First trans-Pacific flight by Charles Kingsford Smith (California to Australia).

• Stratosphere Balloon Record (1930)

  Auguste Piccard reaches 51,775 feet in balloon.

• DC-3 Revolutionizes Aviation (1935)

  Douglas DC-3 revolutionizes commercial aviation.

• First Jet-Powered Flight (August 27, 1939)

  First jet-powered flight (Heinkel He 178).

• Breaking the Sound Barrier (October 14, 1947)

  Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier in Bell X-1 (Mach 1.06).

• First Commercial Jet Airliner Flight (May 2, 1952)

  The de Havilland Comet makes the first commercial passenger jet flight, revolutionizing air travel.

• First Artificial Satellite (October 4, 1957)

  Sputnik 1 becomes first artificial satellite.

• First Human in Space (April 12, 1961)

  Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space (Vostok 1, April 12).

• First American in Space (May 5, 1961)

  Alan Shepard makes first American suborbital spaceflight.

• First American to Orbit (February 20, 1962)

  John Glenn becomes first American to orbit Earth.

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