History of flight

First balloon flight: 1783

Apr 30, 1783

Jean François Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes make the first free aerial voyage in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon.

Wright brothers flight: 1903

Apr 30, 1903

Orville and Wilbur Wright make first powered, sustained, and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine.

Charles Lindbergh: 1927

Apr 30, 1927

Charles A. Lindbergh completes first solo, nonstop trans-Atlantic flight in his aircraft, The Spirit of St. Louis.

Amelia Earhart: 1932

Apr 30, 1932

Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly a solo non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

First modern airliner: 1933

Apr 30, 1933

A modern airliner, Boeing 247, flies for the first time.

First jet aircraft: 1939

Apr 30, 1939

Germany's Heinkel 178 is the first fully jet-propelled aircraft to fly.

Breaking the sound barrier: 1947

Apr 30, 1947

Charles E. Yeager pilots Bell X-1--the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in level flight.

Sputnik: 1957

Apr 30, 1957

Sputnik launchSoviet Union launches first man-made earth satellite, Sputnik 1.

First man in space: 1961

Apr 30, 1961

Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, is the first man in space.

John Glenn: 1962

Apr 30, 1962

God speed, John GlennJohn H. Glenn, Jr., is the first American to orbit the earth.

First man on the moon: 1969

Apr 30, 1969

U.S. astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., are the first to walk on the moon.

First space shuttle flight: 1981

Apr 30, 1981

U.S. launches the first reusable spacecraft, the Columbia shuttle.

Challenger explosion: 1986

Apr 30, 1986

President Reagan addresses the nation.The Challenger Space Shuttle exploded 73 seconds into flight, killing all 7 crewmembers.

F-22 takes flight: 1997

Apr 30, 1997

The Raptor in flight.The first F-22 Raptor test flight unveils the most technologically sophisticated jet fighter ever to the world.