1908: Wilbur Wright makes his first flight in Europe by flying the Wright Flyer A from the racetrack at Hunaudières, 5 miles south of Le Mans, France.
1910: The first aircraft tricycle landing gear is installed on the US Army’s Wright airplane.
1929: The Zeppelin LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin makes the first flight around the world by an airship. Captained by Hugo Eckener, the airship makes its 21,500-mile circumnavigation in 21 days and 7 hours.
1934: James Ayling and Leonard Reid take off on what would become the first non-stop flight from Canada to England, completing the trip aboard their de Havilland DH.84 Dragon 30 hours and 50 minutes later.
1946: The Convair B-36 takes its first flight. To this day, the six-engined bomber remains the largest piston-engined aircraft ever mass-produced. Its 230 ft wingspan is also the longest ever on a combat aircraft.
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1989: Shuttle Columbia is launched on a classified Department of Defense mission, STS-28. Some experts believe two military communications satellites were deployed.
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