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Wiley Hardeman Post, was a famed American aviator, and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits and discovered the jet stream.
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The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were two American engineers, inventors, who are generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane.
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Harriet Quimby became the first U.S. woman to earn a pilot certificate. She was also the first women to fly at night, and in 1912, the first women to pilot her own aircraft across the English Channel.
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On April 7, the city of Los Angeles, California, issued the first aviation law violation to Ormer Locklear for reckless aerial driving, and fined him $25.00.
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On June 15, Bessie Coleman became the first African-American, male or female, to earn a pilot’s license from the FAI.
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On May 2-3, U.S. Army Air Service Lieutenant Oakley Kelly and John Macready made the first transcontinental non stop flight. They flew a Fokker T-2 from Roosevelt, NY, to San Diego, CA
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On May 20-21, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo transatlantic non-stop solo flight. Flying in a monoplane, named the Spirit of St. Louis, built by Ryan Airlines, Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris.
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On September 24, Army Lt. James H. Doolittle became the first pilot to use only instrument guidance to take off, fly a set course, and land.
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On November 28-29, Ritchard Byrd, with pilot Bernt Balchen and two other crew members, became the first to fly over the South Pole, operating a Ford Trimotor.
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On May 21-22, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic by airplane, flying from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
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From July 15-22, Wiley Post flew the Winnie Mae in what is often regarded as the first solo flight around the world. He traveled from Floyd Bennett Field, NY
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On August 13, Blanche Noyes joined the Air Marking Group of the Bureau of Air Commerce becoming the first female pilot hired by a federal agency.
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On June 22, Willa Brown received her pilot license. She went on to become the first African-American commercial pilot and the first African-American woman officer in the Civil Air Patrol.
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On February 23, Dorothy Layne McIntyre became the first African American woman to receive her pilot license from the Civilian Pilot Training Program. During World War II, she taught aircraft mechanics at the War Production Training School in Baltimore, MD
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Janet Waterford Bragg, became the first African-American woman to earn a federal commercial pilot's license.
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A group of women helicopter pilots, led by Jean Ross Howard, formed Whirly Girls International, a support network for women pilots and to exchange information on rotary wing aircraft.
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On March 3, Najeeb E. Halaby became the second FAA administrator.
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Marlon Green became the first African American to be hired as a pilot by a major U.S. passenger airline, after winning a discrimination suit against Continental Airlines.
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On April 17, Geraldine Mock completed the first solo flight around the world by a woman.
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On April 9, the Boeing 737 made its first flight.
