1920: The first of a number of flying schools to train reserve pilots for the military opens at Orly, south of Paris.

1955: The de Havilland Mosquito flies its final operational sortie with the Royal Air Force.

1955: First flight of the Douglas DC-7.

1959: Maj J W Roberts sets a new airspeed record of 1,526 mph (2,456 km/h) in a F-106 Delta Dart.

1963: Alia- Royal Air Jordanian commences flight operations.

1970: Artem Mikoyan, founder of the dynasty of MiG fighters, dies.

1989: Atlantic Coast Airlines is founded…

1996: The merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing is announced.

2006: Lufthansa becomes the first airline to order the Boeing 747-8 passenger jet with an order for 20 planes and options for an additional 20 planes.

2006: First flight of a U.S. Air Force aircraft, a B-52 Stratofortress, powered solely by a blend of synthetic jet fuel, produced by Syntroleum.

2006: First flight of the F-35 Lightning II.

2009: First flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Seattle.