History of the Airplane

Airplane was invented

Dec 17, 1903

Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

First airplane fatality

Sep 17, 1908

Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Thomas Etholen Selfridge was the first person to die in an airplane fatality

First woman pilot

Mar 8, 1910

Baroness Raymonde de la Roch became the first women to get her pilot license.

First African American combat pilot

Sep 8, 1917

Eugene Jacques Bullard became the first African American combat pilot.

Two men - transatlantic flight

Jun 15, 1919

Two men flew a nonstop transatlantic flight that took over 16 hours and 27 minutes.

First around the world flight

Sep 28, 1924

8 U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics took the first around the world flight

First Solo nonstop transatlantic flight

May 21, 1927

Charles Lindbergh was the first person to complete a 33.5-hour solo on a nonstop transatlantic flight

First helicopter flight

Jun 26, 1936

German engineer Heinrich Focke took the first helicopter flight.

Fastest plane flight

Oct 14, 1947

U.S. Air Force captain Charles Yeager was the first to pilot a plane flying faster than the speed of sound