Timeline of aviation
This is a timeline of aviation history, and a list of more detailed aviation timelines. The texts in the diagram are clickable links to articles.
Timeline
ImageSize = width:500 height:2000
PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:10 top:10
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1799 till:2011
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverse
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1880
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:5 start:1880
PlotData=
Color:red mark: align:left fontsize:S
shift: # shift text to right side of bar
# there is no automatic collision detection, fontsize:XS
# so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap shift:
at:1799 text: physics of flight
at:1804 text: successful model hangglider flight
at:1848 text: steam powered model glider
at:1853 text: towed, controlled, manned, glider flight
from:1884 till:1886 text: successful glider flights
at:1884 text: 1st fully controllable, lighter than air, free flight
at:1889 shift: text: A large vehicle lifts itself under power.
at:1890 text: Ader Éole lifts from ground.
from:1891 till:1896 text: controlled hangglider flights
at:1900 text: 1st Zeppelin
from:1901 till:1906 shift: text: 1st airplanes
at:1903 text: Wright Flyer 1, 260 m, controlled, witnessed, photographed
at:1905 text: Wright Flyer 3 controlled, safe landings, 38km
at:1906 text: 14-bis
at:1908 text: First aircraft manufacturer
at:1909 text: Santos-Dumont_Demoiselle
shift: at:1909 text: First crossing of the English channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft
at:1910 text: World's first jet-propelled aircraft
from:1914 till:1917 shift: text: World War I
at:1919 text: 1st Atlantic crossing
at:1919 shift: text: 1st nonstop Atlantic crossing
at:1919 shift: text: First airline is founded
at:1923 shift: text: First non-stop transcontinental flight
at:1924 text: First aerial circumnavigation
at:1927 text: 1st solo nonstop Atlantic crossing
at:1937 text: Hindenburg disaster
at:1939 text: He 178
from:1939 till:1945 shift: text: World War II
from:1940 till:1941 shift: text: The Blitz
from:1940 till:1941 shift: text: Battle of Britain
at:1940 text: Battle of Taranto
at:1944 text: V-2 rocket
at:1947 text: Sound barrier broken
at:1952 text: 1st commercial jet airliner
from:1957 till:1975 shift: text: Space Race
at:1957 shift: text: Sputnik
at:1958 text: Boeing 707
at:1961 text: 1st manned space mission
at:1969 shift: text: Apollo 11
at:1970 shift: text: SR-71 Fastest and highest flying aircraft
at:1976 text: Concorde makes first commercial flight
at:1979 text: 1st human-powered crossing of English Channel
at:1981 text: 1st reusable spacecraft
at:1986 text: 1st nonstop unrefueled global circumnavigation
at:1988 text: World's heaviest aircraft
at:2004 shift: text: Space Ship One becomes first privately built space vehicle
at:2005 shift: text: Largest commercial airliner
at:2011 text: retirement of the space shuttle
at:2010 shift: text: First 24-hour flight using only solar panels and electric power
- Timeline of aviation before the 18th century
- Timeline of aviation – 18th century
- Timeline of aviation – 19th century
- Timeline of aviation – 20th century
By decade
- 1900s: 1900 – 1901 – 1902 – 1903 – 1904 – 1905 – 1906 – 1907 – 1908 – 1909
- 1910s: 1910 – 1911 – 1912 – 1913 – 1914 – 1915 – 1916 – 1917 – 1918 – 1919
- 1920s: 1920 – 1921 – 1922 – 1923 – 1924 – 1925 – 1926 – 1927 – 1928 – 1929
- 1930s: 1930 – 1931 – 1932 – 1933 – 1934 – 1935 – 1936 – 1937 – 1938 – 1939
- 1940s: 1940 – 1941 – 1942 – 1943 – 1944 – 1945 – 1946 – 1947 – 1948 – 1949
- 1950s: 1950 – 1951 – 1952 – 1953 – 1954 – 1955 – 1956 – 1957 – 1958 – 1959
- 1960s: 1960 – 1961 – 1962 – 1963 – 1964 – 1965 – 1966 – 1967 – 1968 – 1969
- 1970s: 1970 – 1971 – 1972 – 1973 – 1974 – 1975 – 1976 – 1977 – 1978 – 1979
- 1980s: 1980 – 1981 – 1982 – 1983 – 1984 – 1985 – 1986 – 1987 – 1988 – 1989
- 1990s: 1990 – 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 1996 – 1997 – 1998 – 1999
- 2000s: 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009
- 2010s: 2010 – 2011 – 2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019
- 2020s: 2020 – 2021 – 2022 – 2023 – 2024 – 2025 – 2026