-
Jan 1, 1000
Gunpowder Widely Used
By the year 1000, weapons using gunpoder were widely used. These included flamethrowers, rockets, bombs, and landmines. -
Sep 15, 1044
First Text Written Alluding to Gunpowder
In 1044, a Doaist text referencing gunpowder was written. It was earliest evidence of the knowledge of gunpowder. -
Rocket Facility
In 1680, Russian czar Peter the Great established a rocket-manufacturing facility near Moscow. -
Newton's Laws
In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published the three laws of motion, which applied to rockets along with all matter on earth, and beyond. -
Attatck on Fort McHenry
In the war of 1812, the British attacked Fort McHenry in the harbor of Baltimore. This battle is forever remembered in "The Star-Spangled Banner." It is the most famous use of Congreve's rockets, as they are referred to in the line "rockets' red glare." -
Hale's Rocket
in 1844, British inventor William Hale invented the "spinning rocket." This was an improvement from Congreve's stick-guided rockets because as the gases erupted from the rocket, they caused it to spin, dramatically increasing the accuracy. -
De la Terre à la Lune
In 1865 French writer Jules Verne wrote the novel De la Terre à la Lune(From the Earth to the Moon). It was a somewhat credible depiction of space travel before it was a widespread idea. It served as an inspiration for future astronomists, such as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Hermann Oberth. -
"Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Rocket Devices" Published
In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published his greatest work, "Cosmic Space by Means of Rocket Devices." In it, he correctly calculated "escape velocity," 8 km per second. -
Sputnik Launch
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into orbit, triggering the space race. -
Laika
On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first space traveler into space, a dog named Laika. -
First U.S. Satellite
On January 31, 1958, the U.S. launched their first satellite into space, Explorer 1. -
First Moon Landing
On Jully 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men on the moon. -
First Commercial Space Flight
In 2001, California businessman became the first commercial space passenger when he paid Russia $20 million to let him fly with cosmonauts to ISS. -
Columbia Explodes
On February 3, 2003, the spaceshuttle Columbia exploded in its descent, only 16 minutes from landing. All seven crew members were killed. Following this, all space shuttle missions were suspended indefinitely. -
SpaceShipOne
In June of 2004, the first privately built and manned spaceship, SpaceShipOne, was launched in the Mojave Desert in California. This was a big step towards space tourism. The launch was for a $10 million reward from the X Prize Foundation to create a low-cost vehicle for commercial space travel.
