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The Chinese invented the first kite, as our introduction to flight. It has been used for over 3000 years in Asia. Kites use the power of the wind to keep it up. The wind goes against the pull of the string and supports the kite in the air.
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Leonardo da Vinci first begins to draw designs for flying machines. Many of his inventions were close, but none were actually succesful for human flight.
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Leonardo da Vinci -
The first successful human flight was made possible in a hot air balloon. In 1783, two French brothers, Joseph and Jacues Montgolfier created a giant linen and paper balloon. In November of that year, they filled it with hot air and sent two friends into the sky above Paris. The balloon is reported to have traveled 5 miles.
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George Cayley builds the first glider to successfully carry a person in flight. George was a prolific English engineer and one of the most important people in the history of flight. Many consider him the first true scientific aerial investigator and the first person to understand the underlying principles of air and forces of flight.
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Orville and Wilbur Wright, two brothers, became the first people to successfully fly an engine-powered airplane. Two years afterwards, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aitcraft controls that made flight possible.
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Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter.
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Therese Peltier makes the first solo airplane flight by a woman.
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Bessie Coleman becomes the first African American to earn a pilot's license.
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Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
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Amelia Earhart is the first woman to cross the Atlantic on a non-stop solo flight.
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Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to fly to space.
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Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to fly into space.
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Apollo 11 makes the first moon landing.
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Salyut 1, the world's first space station, is launched into orbit.
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Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space.
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Eileen Collins is the first woman to be commander of a NASA Space Shuttle mission.
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Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial aircraft, capable of carrying up to 853 passengers, completes its first flight.
