Timeline: Changing The Sound: Seattle From Boeing To Biotech

Jan 1, 1908

William E. Boeing moves to Seattle

Exact date of move unknown.
Photo: William E. Boeing, 1929. Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library.

Jun 15, 1916

First test flight of a Boeing airplane

First test flight of the Bluebill, a Boeing Model 1, also known as the B & W Seaplane. The combined Seaplane-biplane flew 900 feet from Boeing’s combined factory and hangar on Lake Union.
Photo: Men Pulling B & W into Boeing Seaplane Hangar on Lake Union, Seattle, 1916. Museum of History & Industry, Seattle; All Rights Reserved.

Apr 21, 1962

Century 21 Exposition, the Seattle World’s Fair, opens at Seattle Center

Photo: Seattle Center Space Needle, circa 1961, by Bernard Mayo Rivera, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Jan 1, 1971

Starbucks opens first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market

Exact date unknown.

Mar 24, 1971

Congress cancels the Supersonic Transport program

Mar 25, 1971

Boeing lays off 7,000 workers

Apr 1, 1971

Will the last person leaving Seattle...

Photo: Local real-estate agents Bob McDonald (right) and Jim Youngren unveil a billboard near Sea-Tac airport that reads: “Will the last person leaving Seattle -- Turn out the lights.” Photo courtesy of Bob McDonald.

Jan 1, 1979

Micro-Soft moves to Bellevue

Fledgling software company Micro-Soft (initial name for Microsoft) relocates from New Mexico to Bellevue. Exact date unknown.

Jan 1, 1981

Three Northwest researchers unite to form the biotech company Zymogenetics

Exact date of company inception unknown.
Photo: Zymogenetics Headquarters Building, as viewed from Lake Union, 2007. Courtesy the photographer Eben Calhoun.

Jun 25, 1985

Microsoft incorporates

Photo: Paul Allen (left) and Bill Gates on October 19, 1981 surrounded by PCs after signing a major contract with IBM to develop software for its upcoming PC line. Courtesy Microsoft.