View source for Timeline of aviation in the 19th century

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{{more citations needed|date=October 2010}}

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!style="background:#d6e6f6;border-bottom:solid 2px #87CEEB;"|[[Timeline of aviation|<small>Timeline{{Clear}}of aviation</small>]]
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|align=center|[[Timeline of aviation before the 18th century|pre-18th century]]
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|align=center|[[Timeline of aviation – 18th century|18th century]]
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|align=center style="background:#87CEEB"|'''19th century'''
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|align=center|[[Timeline of aviation – 20th century|20th century]]
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|align=center|[[2001 in aviation|21st century begins]]
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{{Portal|Aviation}}
This is a list of aviation-related events during the 19th century (1 January 1801 &ndash; 31 December 1900):

== 1800–1859 ==
[[File:Aeronautics2.jpg|thumb|150px|An 1818 technical illustration shows early [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] designs.]]
[[File:Early flight 02561u (5).jpg|thumb|right|150px|A late 19th-century illustration of [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac|Gay-Lussac]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Biot|Biot]] ascending to {{convert|4000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in a hot-air balloon in 1804.]]
* '''1802'''
** 5 July &ndash; [[André-Jacques Garnerin]] and [[Edward Hawke Locker]] make a {{convert|17|mi|km|adj=on}} [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] flight from [[Lord's Cricket Ground]] in [[St John's Wood]] to [[Chingford]] in just over 15 minutes.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times|title=Garnerin's Balloon|date=6 July 1802|page=2|issue=5455|column=B}}</ref>
** 2 December &ndash; A manned illuminated balloon is launched from the front of [[Notre Dame de Paris]] during the [[Coronation of Napoleon I]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgianindex.net/Napoleon/coronation/coronation.html|title=Napoleon's Coronation as Emperor of the French|work=Georgian Index|access-date=2015-12-07}}</ref>
* '''1803'''
** British [[Rear Admiral]] [[Sir Charles Knowles, 2nd Baronet|Charles Knowles]] proposes to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] that the [[Royal Navy]] loft an [[observation balloon]] from a ship in order to reconnoitre [[France|French]] preparations for the invasion of Britain in [[Brest, France|Brest]]. The proposal is ignored.<ref name="Layman31">Layman 1989, p. 31.</ref>
** 18 July &ndash; [[Étienne-Gaspard Robert|Etienne Gaspar Robertson]] and his copilot Lhoest ascend from [[Hamburg]], Germany, to an altitude of around {{convert|7300|m|ft|abbr=on}} in a balloon.<ref>Hallion 2003, p.74.</ref>
** 3–4 October &ndash; [[André-Jacques Garnerin]] covers a distance of {{convert|395|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Paris to [[Clausen, Germany]].
** 7–8 October &ndash; [[Francesco Zambeccari]] and [[:it:Pasquale Andreoli|Pasquale Andreoli]] make a balloon flight which crashes into the [[Adriatic Sea]].
* '''1804'''
** Sir [[George Cayley]] builds a model glider with a main wing and separate, adjustable vertical and horizontal tail surfaces.<ref name="Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 35">Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 35.</ref>
** August/September &ndash; The scientists [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]] and [[Jean Baptiste Biot]] use a balloon to conduct experiments on the [[Earth's magnetic field]] and the composition of the upper atmosphere.<ref>Hallion 2003, p. 75.</ref>
** 23 August &ndash; [[Francesco Zambeccari]] and [[:it:Pasquale Andreoli|Pasquale Andreoli]] make a second balloon flight which crashes into the [[Adriatic Sea]].
*'''1806'''
** [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Lord Cochrane]] flies [[kite]]s from the [[Royal Navy]] 32-gun [[frigate]] [[HMS Pallas (1804)|HMS ''Pallas'']] to spread [[propaganda]] leaflets along the coast of [[France]]. It is the first use of an aerial device in [[Europe]]an maritime warfare.<ref name="Layman31"/>
* '''1807'''
** [[Jakob Degen]], a clockmaker from Vienna, experiments with an [[ornithopter]] with flap-valve wings.<ref name="Gibbs-Smith 2003 p. 39">Gibbs-Smith 2003 p. 39.</ref>
* '''1809'''
** Degen propels a hydrogen-filled balloon by flapping large ornithopter-style wings.<ref name="Gibbs-Smith 2003 p. 39"/>
** September &ndash; Sir George Cayley publishes the first part of his seminal paper ''[[On Aerial Navigation]]'', setting out for the first time the scientific principles of [[heavier-than-air flight]].<ref name="Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 35"/>
* '''1810'''
** September &ndash; [[French people|French]]woman [[Sophie Blanchard]] makes a flight starting from [[Frankfurt]], making her the first woman to fly in a balloon in Germany.
** Chemist Johann Gottfried Reichard makes his first flight in a self-constructed [[gas balloon]] from Berlin, making him the second person to fly in a gas balloon in Germany.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuXbDbAv7U8C&pg=PA197|title=Königinnen der Lüfte in Europa|isbn=978-3-640-68876-0|last=Probst|first=Ernst|date=August 2010|pages=197–210|publisher=GRIN Verlag }}</ref>
* '''1811'''
** 16 April &ndash; [[Wilhelmine Reichard]] makes her first solo flight, starting in Berlin, making her the first native German woman to fly in a balloon.
** 31 May &ndash; [[Albrecht Berblinger]] crashes a [[hang glider]] (possibly a copy of Degen's{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}) into the [[Danube]]. A reproduction built according to the design drawing in 1986 is capable of flight.
[[File:Early flight 02561u (9).jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Thomas Harris (aviator)|Harris]] jumps from his balloon to save his fiancée. Illustration from the late 19th Century.]]
* '''1812'''
** 21 September &ndash; [[Francesco Zambeccari]] dies when his balloon catches fire on landing.
* '''1819'''
** 6 July &ndash; [[Sophie Blanchard]] launches [[fireworks]] from her balloon in flight during an exhibition at the [[Jardin de Tivoli|Tivoli Gardens]] in [[Paris]]. The fireworks ignite the gas in the balloon, which crashes on the roof of a house. She falls to her death, becoming the first woman to die in an aviation accident.<ref name="shtashower">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-falling-upwards-how-we-took-to-the-air-by-richard-holmes/2013/12/13/923f666c-31bd-11e3-9c68-1cf643210300_story.html Shtashower, Daniel, "Book review: ‘Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air’ by Richard Holmes," washingtonpost.com, December 13, 2013.]</ref>
* '''1824'''
** 25 May &ndash; Englishman [[Thomas Harris (aviator)|Thomas Harris]] dies when his balloon crashes near [[Carshalton]]. His female passenger survives. The exact cause is not determined but is apparently due to a valve Harris has designed to release gas from the balloon becoming stuck open. Despite dropping all ballast Harris is unable to stop a precipitous plunge.<ref name=rasHarris>{{cite journal|publisher=Royal Aeronautical Society|journal=The Aeronautical Journal|volume=33|year=1929|title=1824 Death Of Lieut. Thomas Harris At Beddington Park, Croydon}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753936-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124092038/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753936-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 24, 2009|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=Aeronautics: Heavenly Matches|date=21 August 1933}}</ref>
* '''1836'''
** 7–8 November &ndash; Flight of a coal gas balloon (named ''The Great Balloon of Nassau'') by [[Charles Green (balloonist)|Charles Green]] covering {{convert|722|km|mi|abbr=on}} from London to [[Weilburg]], [[Germany]], in 18 hours with passengers [[Robert Hollond]] and [[Thomas Monck Mason]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Times|location=London|date=15 November 1896|page=5|issue=16261}}</ref> It is the first overnight balloon flight,<ref>Shtashower, Daniel, "The First to Float Above the World," ''The Washington Post'', December 15, 2013, p. B3 (illustration caption).</ref><ref name="century-of-flight.net">[http://www.century-of-flight.net/new%20site/balloons/stratosphere.htm century-of-flight.net Balloons to the Stratosphere]</ref> and it sets a world ballooning distance record that will stand until [[1907 in aviation#1907]].
* '''1837'''
** [[Robert Cocking]] jumps from a balloon piloted by [[Charles Green (balloonist)|Charles Green]] at a height of {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}} to demonstrate a parachute of his own design, and is killed in the attempt.<ref>Holmes 2014, p. 75</ref>
* '''1838'''
**4 September – [[Charles Green (balloonist)|Charles Green]], George Rush, and Edward Spencer ascend to an altitude of {{convert|19,335|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} over England in the ''Great Balloon of Nassau'' before landing at [[Thaxted]].
**10 September – Green and Rush ascend to a world record altitude of {{convert|27,146|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} over England in the ''Great Balloon of Nassau'', reaching speeds of {{convert|80|to|100|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} during the flight.
* '''1839'''
** The American [[John Wise (balloonist)|John Wise]] introduces the ripping panel which is still used today. The panel solved the problem of the balloon dragging along the ground at landing and needing to be stopped with the help of anchors.<ref>Holmes 2014, p. 102</ref>
** [[Charles Green (balloonist)|Charles Green]] and the astronomer Spencer Rush ascend to {{convert|7900|m|ft|abbr=on}} in a free balloon.
[[File:Early flight 02561u (10).jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Francisque Arban]] is rescued by Italian fishermen, 1846. Illustration from the late 19th century.]]
* '''1840'''
** Louis Anslem Lauriat makes the first manned flight in [[Canada]], at [[Saint John, New Brunswick]], in his balloon ''Star of the East''.<ref>{{cite book |last= Milberry |first= Larry |title= Aviation in Canada |year= 1979 |publisher= McGraw-Hill Ryerson |isbn=978-0-07-082778-3|chapter= The Early Days:1840-1914|page= 11 }}</ref>
* '''1842'''
** November &ndash; English engineer [[William Samuel Henson]] makes the first complete drawing of a power-driven aeroplane with steam-engine drive. The patent follows the works of Cayley. The English House of Commons rejects the motion for the formation of an "Aerial Transport Company" with great laughter.
* '''1843'''
** [[William Samuel Henson]] and [[John Stringfellow]] file articles of incorporation for the world's first air transport company, the [[Aerial Transit Company]]
* '''1845'''
** William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow build a [[Steam power|steam-powered]] model aircraft, with a wingspan of {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}}.
* '''1846'''
** French balloonist [[Francisque Arban]] makes his twelfth flight from Rome in April, and is rescued from the sea after a flight from [[Trieste]] later in the year.
* '''1848'''
**[[John Stringfellow]] flies a powered monoplane model a few dozen feet in a powered glide at an exhibition at [[Cremorne Gardens, London|Cremorne Gardens]] in London.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200212.html|title=Henson and Stringfellow|journal=[[Flight magazine|Flight]]|date=24 February 1956|via=Flight Global}}</ref>
* '''1849'''
** 12–25 July &ndash; While [[Blockade|blockading]] [[Venice]], the Austrians launch unmanned [[incendiary balloon]]s equipped with explosive charges from land and as well as from the [[steamship]] {{SMS|Vulcano}}  in an attempt to bombard Venice. Although the experiment is mostly unsuccessful, it is both the first use of balloons for bombardment and the first time a warship makes offensive use of an aerial device.<ref>Layman 1989, p. 13.</ref>
** 2–3 September &ndash; French balloonist [[Francisque Arban]] makes the first (and until [[1924 in aviation|1924]] only) balloon flight over the [[Alps]], flying a hydrogen balloon from [[Marseille]] to [[Turin]].
** 7 October &ndash; [[Francisque Arban]] takes off from [[Barcelona]], but his balloon is blown over the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and is lost.
** Sir [[George Cayley]] launches a 10-year-old boy in a small [[Glider (aircraft)|glider]] being towed by a team of people running down a hill. This is the first known flight by a person in a heavier-than-air machine.<ref>Lewis 1962, p.178.</ref>
* '''1852'''
** 24 September &ndash; French engineer [[Henri Giffard]] flies {{convert|27|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the Paris Hippodrome to [[Trappes]] in a steam-powered [[dirigible]],<ref>Whitehouse, Arch, ''The Zeppelin Fighters'', New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 14.</ref> reaching a speed of about {{convert|10|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.
* '''1853'''
** Late June or early July &ndash; [[Sir George Cayley's coachman]] successfully flies a [[glider aircraft|glider]], designed by his employer, some proportion of the distance across Brompton Dale in [[Yorkshire]], becoming the world's first adult aeroplane pilot.<ref>Lewis 1962, p. 178.</ref> Unimpressed with this honour, the coachman promptly resigns his employment.
* '''1855'''
** First use of the word "[[aeroplane]]", in a paper by [[Joseph Pline]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kundu |first1=Ajoy Kumar |title=Aircraft Design |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-48745-0 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NeHoahlhCGMC&pg=PA3 |language=en}}</ref>
* '''1856'''
** December &ndash; French Captain [[Jean Marie Le Bris]] is towed into the air in his Artificial Albatross glider, flying {{convert|600|ft|m|abbr=on}}.
* '''1857'''
** [[Félix du Temple de la Croix|Félix Du Temple]] flies [[clockwork]] and steam-powered model aircraft, the first sustained powered flights by heavier-than-air machines.
** French brothers du Temple de la Croix apply after successful attempts with models for a patent for a power-driven aeroplane.
* '''1858'''
** John Wise and three companions complete a Montgolfière flight over a distance of {{convert|802|mi|km}} from St. Louis to Henderson{{clarify|date=September 2023|reason=which state?}}
** French airman [[Nadar (photographer)|Nadar]] takes the first aerial photographs.<ref>Holmes 2014, p.156</ref>

== 1860s ==
* '''1860'''
** 13 October &ndash; Ascending in [[Samuel Archer King]]{{'}}s balloon ''The Queen of the Air'', [[James Wallace Black]] takes eight photographs of Boston from an altitude of {{convert|1200|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The single clear print is the first successful aerial photograph in the United States and the first clear aerial photograph of a city ever taken anywhere.<ref name="infoplease.com">[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004537.html Infoplease: Famous Firsts in Aviation]</ref>
* '''1861'''
** The first use of [[observation balloon]]s in naval warfare takes place during the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865).<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 14"/>
** The [[United States Navy]] barge [[USS George Washington Parke Custis (1861)|''George Washington Parke Custis'']] becomes the first ship configured to conduct air operations, transporting and towing [[observation balloon]]s along the [[Potomac River]]. She continues these operations into early 1862.<ref>Layman, R.D., 1989 pp. 115-116.</ref>
** 16 June &ndash; Floating {{convert|500|ft|m|-1|abbr=on}} above the [[National Mall]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], the balloon ''[[Enterprise (balloon)|''Enterprise'']]'' with a [[telegraph]] key wired directly to the [[White House]], [[Thaddeus Lowe]] sends a [[telegram]] to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] to demonstrate the value of balloons in military reconnaissance. It is the first telegram to be sent from the air.<ref name="shtashower"/><ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mal/mal1/103/1031300/001.jpg The Magnetic Telegraph Company: Telegram from Balloon ''Enterprise'' to the President of the United States, 16 June 1861]</ref> The [[Union Army Balloon Corps]] will be formed under Lowe{{'}}s command, for observation and artillery direction, and balloons will see major use in the American Civil War over the next four years.
** 3 August &ndash; The [[United States Army]] [[steamship]] ''Fanny'' becomes the first ship to loft a captive manned balloon when a civilian [[aeronaut]], [[John La Mountain]], ascends from her deck to observe [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] military positions at [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]]. He ascends again a few days later either from ''Fanny'' or a ship named ''Adriatic''.<ref>Layman 1989, p. 115.</ref>
* '''1862'''
** With the permission of the British [[War Office]], British Army Captain F. Beaumont and Lieutenant George Grover perform [[observation balloon]] trials at [[Aldershot]], assisted by the civilian aeronaut [[Henry Tracey Coxwell]]. It is the first balloon experiment in the [[British armed forces]], although the first official experimentation will not occur until 1878.<ref name="earlymilitaryballooning">[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/rfc_centenary/british-military-aviation-1862-1912/early-military-ballooning.aspx rafmuseum.org.uk "Early Military Ballooning"]</ref>
** Late March &ndash; Civilian aeronaut John H. Steiner takes United States Navy [[Commissioned officer|officers]] aloft in an observation balloon from the deck of a [[flatboat]] on the [[Mississippi River]] so that they can direct the fire of U.S. Navy [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] boats against the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]]-held [[Island Number Ten]] It will be the last aerial guidance of naval gunfire anywhere in the world until 1904.<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 116">Layman 1989, p. 116.</ref>
** March–May &ndash; The ''George Washington Parke Custis'' transports and tows observation balloons along the [[York River (Virginia)|York River]] in Virginia during the [[Peninsula Campaign]].<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 116"/>
** April &ndash; John B. Starkweather ascends several times in a balloon from the deck of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[paddle steamer]] ''May Flower'' to observe [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] positions at [[Port Royal, South Carolina|Port Royal]], [[South Carolina]].<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 116"/>
** June &ndash; The [[Confederate States Navy]] chooses the [[steamboat|steamer]] [[CSS Teaser|CSS ''Teaser'']] to embark a balloon for use in observation of [[Union Army]] positions along the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] in Virginia.<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 14">Layman 1989, p. 14.</ref>
** 1–3 July &ndash; The Confederate States Navy steamer [[CSS Teaser|''Teaser'']] operates a coal-gas silk observation balloon to reconnoitre Union Army positions along the [[James River (Virginia)|James River]] in Virginia, the only use of a balloon by the Confederate States Navy. Her capture on 4 July by the steamer {{USS|Maratanza|1861|6}} ends Confederate naval balloon operations.<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 14"/>
** 5 September &ndash; Aeronaut [[Henry Tracey Coxwell]] and English physicist [[James Glaisher]] officially reach a height of {{convert|29,527|ft|m|abbr=on}} in a [[coal gas]] balloon according to their balloon's [[barometer]],<ref>Holmes 2014, pp. 213-5</ref> although later estimates place the maximum altitude they attained at between {{convert|35,000|and|37,000|ft|m|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. The two men nearly die of [[Hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]] during the flight, Glaisher falling unconscious and Coxwell losing all feeling in his hands.<ref name="century-of-flight.net"/>
* '''1863'''
** The Union Army Balloon Corps is disbanded early in the year.<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 116"/>
** [[Dirigible]] [[airship]] flown by [[Solomon Andrews (airship)|Solomon Andrews]] over [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]].
** John H. Steiner takes [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]], an officer from the [[Army of Württemberg]] assigned to the Union Army as an observer, aloft in a balloon. Zeppelin later will credit this ascent as his inspiration to create the [[rigid airship]], which he first flies in 1900.<ref name="Layman, R.D. 1989, p. 116"/> 
* '''1864'''
** Outbreak of the [[Paraguayan War]] between the Alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay against Paraguay. The Alliance forces made much use of balloon reconnaissance over the next six years.
** English philosopher-scientist [[Matthew Piers Watt Boulton]] of the UK writes his short paper, ''On Aerial Locomotion'', detailing several inventions, including that of the [[aileron]] almost as an afterthought (he later patents them in 1868). Boulton's inspiration has been attributed to French Count Ferdinand Charles Honore Phillipe d'Esterno, whose detailed analysis of flapping and soaring bird flight, ''Du Vol des Oiseaux'' (On the flight of birds) was published as a pamphlet in 1864.<ref name="Harrison 2000">Harrison, James P. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sIk_T6F63NYC ''Mastering the Sky: A History of Aviation from Ancient Times to the Present''], Da Capo Press, 2000, p. 48, {{ISBN|978-1885119681}}.</ref>
* '''1865'''
** [[Solomon Andrews (airship)|Solomon Andrews]] flies a dirigible twice over [[New York City]].
** German experimenter [[Paul Haenlein]] takes out a patent for the "Earliest Known Airship With a [[Semi-rigid airship|Semi-rigid]] Frame," envisioned to have a [[Coal gas|coal-gas]]-burning engine which draws its fuel from the craft{{'}}s envelope, which is filled with coal gas. He later will construct the craft in [[Germany]].<ref>Whitehouse 1966, p. 14.</ref>
** [[Jules Verne]] describes in his novel ''The Journey to the Moon'' the launch of a rocket from [[Florida]], from which many years later American space flights actually will start.
** The Frenchman ''Le Comte'' Ferdinand Charles Honore Phillipe d'Esterno writes in his book ''About the Flight of Birds'', "Gliding seems to be characteristic for heavy birds; there are no odds which are stacked against that humans can not do the same at fair wind." He had earlier published the 1864 pamphlet ''Du Vol des Oiseaux'' (On the flight of birds).<ref name="Harrison 2000" />
** French artist and farmer [[Louis Pierre Mouillard]] makes a tentative gliding flight. After years of studies of bird flight he publishes his book ''L'Empire de l'Air'' in 1881. He thinks that imitation of gliding and soaring flight of birds is possible, but not the imitation of the flapping of wings.
** 20 September &ndash; Jacob Brodbeck, in his coil-spring-driven airship, flies 100 feet before crashing in a field near [[Luckenbach, Texas]].<ref>[http://texaslesstraveled.com/brodbeck.htm Texas Less Travelled: The Brodbeck Airship]</ref>
* '''1866'''
** First South American military balloon reconnaissance ascent. On 6 July, Lieutenant Colonel Roberto A. Chodasiewicz, an Argentine Army military engineer, makes the first South American military observation ascent, manning a Brazilian Army's captive ballon over Paraguayan troops, during the Paraguayan War.
** Foundation (12 January in London) of the [[Royal Aeronautical Society|Aeronautical Society of Great Britain]] later to become the Royal Aeronautical Society, the world's oldest society devoted to all aspects of aeronautics and astronautics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aerosociety.com/About-Us/history|title=History of the Society|publisher= Royal Aeronautical Society}}</ref> 
**[[Francis Herbert Wenham]], British, presents his paper on "Aerial Locomotion" to the RAeS. Patented superposed wing design (biplane, multiplane).
** [[Jan Wnęk]] claims gliding flights (1866–1869) from the Odporyszów church tower.<ref name="wnek">{{cite web |url=http://www.dziecidodzieci.republika.pl/wnekfr.htm |title=Jan Wnęk l'héros de sous la voûte de ciel |access-date=2010-09-13 |last=Kulawik |first=Piotr |language=fr |trans-title=Jan Wnęk, the hero in the vault of heaven |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602235921/http://www.dziecidodzieci.republika.pl/wnekfr.htm |archive-date=2013-06-02}}</ref> Kraków Museum of Ethnography, the source of claims of documentary evidence, refuse to allow independent researchers access to these.
** First exhibition of aviation in London's Crystal Palace.
* '''1868'''
** British inventor [[Matthew Piers Watt Boulton]] patents the [[aileron]] in its modern form.
*'''1869'''
** 4 July &ndash; [[Frederick Marriott]] makes the first successful flight of an unmanned powered [[airship]] in the United States at [[San Francisco]], a small scale dirigible called the ''Avitor Hermes, Jr.''.<ref>Harwood, Craig S. and Fogel, Gary B., ''Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West,'' Norman, Okla.; University of Oklahoma Press, 2012, p. 14.</ref>

== 1870–1889 ==
* '''1870'''
** Balloons are used by the French to transport letters and passengers out of [[Siege of Paris (1870–71)|besieged Paris]] during the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. Between September 1870 and January 1871, 66 flights &ndash; of which 58 land safely &ndash; carry 110 passengers and up to three million letters out of Paris, as well as 500 [[carrier pigeon]]s to deliver messages back to Paris.<ref>Loving, Matthew,  [http://www.historynet.com/bullets-and-balloons-escape-from-the-siege-of-paris-1870.htm "Bullets and Balloons," ''MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History'', Autumn 2011, p. 17.]</ref> One balloon accidentally sets a world distance record by ending up off the coast of Norway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1132.htm|title=The Siege of Paris|first=John H.|last=Lienhard|work=Engines of Our Ingenuity|date=1988–1997|access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref>
* '''1871'''
** The Englishmen Wenham and Browning construct the first [[wind tunnel]] and conduct airflow experiments.
**[[Alphonse Pénaud]] flies his ''Planophore'', a small rubber-powered model which is designed to have automatic pitch and roll stability.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p.56.</ref>
* '''1872'''
** 2 February &ndash; French naval architect [[Henri Dupuy de Lôme]] achieves {{convert|9|to|11|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} with his airship driven by a propeller turned by eight men.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blimpinfo.com/history-2/this-mo-in-hist/this-mo-in-hist-feb/henri-dupuy-de-lome/|title=Henri Dupuy de Lôme|publisher=The Lighter Than Air Society|access-date= 15 December 2012}}</ref>
** 13 December &ndash; The German experimenter [[Paul Haenlein]] tests the first airship with an [[internal combustion engine]] in [[Brno|Brünn]], [[Austria-Hungary]], achieving {{convert|19|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}; the engine burns [[coal gas]] drawn from its balloon. The tests are stopped because of a shortage of money.
* '''1873'''
** The ''[[Daily Graphic|New York Daily Graphic]]'' sponsors the first attempt in history to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, using a {{convert|400000|ft3|m3|adj=on}} [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] carrying a [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]. The attempt is abandoned when the balloon rips and collapses during inflation.<ref name="infoplease.com"/>
* '''1874'''
** 20 September &ndash; Felix and Louis du Temple de la Croix build a piloted steam-powered monoplane which achieves a short hop after gaining speed by rolling down a ramp.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2002, p. 59.</ref>
* '''1875'''
** Englishman [[Thomas Moy]] tests a tethered aeroplane with a wing span of {{convert|4|m|ft|abbr=off}} powered by a steam engine.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 61.</ref>
** German experimenter [[Paul Haenlein]] improves his [[airship]] by providing it with a car suspended below its framework to accommodate the crew and engine. This will become a standard practice in the design of later [[dirigible]]s.<ref>Whitehouse 1966 p. 14.</ref>
** 15 April &ndash; In the balloon ''[[Zénith (balloon)|Zénith]]'', the [[French Navy]] officer [[Théodore Sivel]], the French journalist [[Joseph Crocé-Spinelli]], and the French scientist and editor [[Gaston Tissandier]] ascend to a record altitude of {{convert|8600|m|ft|abbr=off}}. [[Hypoxia (medical)|Hypoxia]] kills Sivel and Crocé-Spinelli during the flight and leaves Tissandier deaf.<ref name="century-of-flight.net"/>
* '''1876'''
** [[Alphonse Pénaud]] and Paul Gauchot apply for a patent for a power-driven aeroplane with a retractable [[Landing gear|undercarriage]], wings with [[dihedral (aircraft)|dihedral]] and [[joystick]] control.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 57.</ref>
[[File:Elicottero sperimentale Enrico Forlanini 1877 Museo scienza e tecnologia Milano.jpg|thumb|Experimental helicopter by [[Enrico Forlanini]] (1877) ([[Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci]], Milan)]]
* '''1877'''
** First flight of a steam-driven model [[helicopter]] built by [[Enrico Forlanini]].
** [[Imperial Japanese Army]] flying experience begins with the use of balloons.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|0-87021-313-X}}, p. 29.</ref>
* '''1878'''
** [[Charles F. Ritchel]] publicly demonstrates of his hand-powered, one-man rigid airship, and eventually sells five of them.
** At the Balloon Equipment Store at the [[Royal Arsenal]], [[Woolwich]], [[British Army]] Captain [[James Templer (balloon aviator)|James Templer]] conducts the British Army's first official experiments with an [[observation balloon]]. It is considered the birth of British military aviation.<ref name="earlymilitaryballooning"/>
* '''1879'''
** The [[British Army]] gains its first balloon, the ''Pioneer''.
** Frenchman [[Victor Tatin]] builds a power-driven model aeroplane with airscrews and a compressed air motor, successfully flying it off the ground.
** American scientist [[Edmund Clarence Stedman]] proposes a [[rigid airship]] inspired by the anatomy of a fish, with a framework of [[steel]], [[brass]], or [[copper]] tubing and a [[Tractor configuration|tractor]] propeller mounted on the front of the envelope, later changed to an engine with two propellers suspended beneath the framework. The airship never is built, but Stedman{{'}}s design foreshadows that of the [[Zeppelin]]s of [[World War I]].<ref>Whitehouse, Arch, ''The Zeppelin Fighters'', New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 15.</ref>
** Biot makes short hops in the Biot-Massia glider.
* '''1880'''
** The Russian naval officer [[Alexander Mozhaysky|Alexander Fjodorowitsch Mozhaiski]] patents a steam-powered aircraft.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 66.</ref>
** [[Friedrich Hermann Wölfert|Friedrich Wölfert]] and Ernst Baumgarten attempt to fly a powered dirigible in free flight, but crash.
** Balloons are used in British military manoeuvres for the first time at [[Aldershot]].
* '''1882'''
** 4 July &ndash; The first balloon flight in New Mexico is made by [[Park Van Tassel]].<ref>Fogel, Gary B. ''Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West'', New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 2021, p. 5.</ref>
* '''1883'''
**M.A. Goupil proposes a steam-powered monoplane with tractor propeller. His full-size test rig lifts itself and two men in a light breeze, but the design is never built.
** The first electric-powered flight is made by [[Gaston Tissandier]] who fits a [[Siemens AG]] electric motor to a dirigible. Airships with electric engines (Tissandier brothers, Renard and Krebs).
** Wölfert unsuccessfully tests a balloon powered by a hand-cranked propeller
** The Berlin-based "German Society for Promoting Aviation" publishes a magazine, the "Zeitschrift für Luftschiffahrt" (Magazine of Aviation).
[[File:The 1884 Krebs & Renard first fully controllable free-flights with the LA FRANCE dirigible near Paris (Krebs arch.).jpg|thumb|The 1884 Krebs & Renard first fully controllable free-flights with the LA FRANCE electric dirigible near Paris (Krebs arch.)]]
[[File:La France Observatoire.jpg|thumb|250px|The astronomer [[Pierre Jules César Janssen|Jules Janssen]] took this photo of ''La France'' dirigible of the French officers [[Charles Renard]] and [[Arthur Krebs]] from his [[Meudon]] astrophysic observatory in 1885.]]
* '''1884'''
** 9 August &ndash; The first fully controllable free-flight is made in the French Army dirigible ''[[La France (airship)|La France]]'' by [[Charles Renard]] and [[Arthur Krebs]]. The flight covers {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} in 23&nbsp;minutes. It was the first flight to return to the starting point.<ref>Hallion 2003, p. 87.</ref>
** Mozhaiski finishes his monoplane (span 14 m, or 46&nbsp;ft). It makes a short flight, taking off after running down a launching ramp.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003 p.67.</ref>
** [[John J. Montgomery]] makes first controlled heavier-than-air unpowered flight in America.<ref name="Richard J. Montgomery 1919">Richard J. Montgomery, response to Questions #22 and #24, January 14, 1919, in Equity No. 33852 (John J. Montgomery Collection, Santa Clara University Archives and Special Collections).</ref><ref name="Charles Burroughs 1920">Affidavit of Charles Burroughs, dated February 26, 1920.</ref>
** The [[British Army]] deploys [[observation balloon]]s in combat for the first time, when it takes balloons subordinated to the [[Royal Engineers]] along on the [[Bechuanaland Expedition]] in [[South Africa]].
** The [[Imperial Russian Army]] adopts the [[balloon]] for military service.<ref>Layman 1989, p. 91.</ref>
** Englishman Horatio Phillipps has a patent issued for curved [[aerofoil]] sections.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 68.</ref>
**Goupil publishes his book on ''La Locomotion Aérienne''.
* '''1885'''
** The Prussian Airship Arm (''Preussische Luftschiffer Abteilung'') becomes a permanent unit of the army.
** The British Army deploys observation balloons in [[Sudan]] to take part in the expedition to [[Mahdist War#Suakin 1885|Suakin]] during the [[Mahdist War]].<ref name="earlymilitaryballooning"/>
** Frenchmen Hervé and Alluard achieve a hot air balloon flight of over 24 hours.
**[[John J. Montgomery]] experiments with a second glider in California.<ref name="Richard J. Montgomery 1919"/><ref name="Charles Burroughs 1920"/><ref>Zachariah Montgomery to Richard Montgomery, August 6, 1885 (John J. Montgomery Collection, Santa Clara University Archives and Special Collections)</ref>
* '''1886'''
**[[John J. Montgomery]] conducts studies on the flow of water and air over angles surfaces and experiments with a third glider in California.<ref>John J. Montgomery to Margaret H. Montgomery, December 23, 1885</ref><ref>Montgomery, John J., 1910 "The Origin of Warping: Professor Montgomery's Experiments," ''Aeronautics (London)'' Vol. 3, No 5, pp. 63-64.</ref>
* '''1887'''
** 30 January &ndash; [[Thomas Scott Baldwin]] makes the first parachute jump in the western United States at [[San Francisco]] from a tethered balloon owned by [[Park Van Tassel]] and using a parachute co-invented with [[Park Van Tassel]].<ref>Fogel, Gary B. ''Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West'', New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 2021, p. 40.</ref>
* '''1888'''
** Wölfert flies a petrol powered dirigible at Seelburg, the first use of a petrol-fuelled engine for aviation purposes. The engine was built by [[Gottlieb Daimler]].<ref>Hallion 2003, p. 89.</ref>
** 4 July &ndash; Clara Van Tassel makes the first parachute jump by a woman in the western United States at [[Los Angeles]] from a balloon operated by her husband [[Park Van Tassel]].<ref>Fogel, Gary B. ''Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West'', New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 2021, p. 53.</ref>
* '''1889'''
** [[Percival G. Spencer]] makes a successful parachute jump from a balloon at [[Drumcondra, Dublin|Drumcondra]], Ireland
** [[Otto Lilienthal]] publishes in his book ''Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst'' (Bird Flight as the Basis for the Art of Aviation) measurements on wings, so called polar diagrams, which are the concept of description of artificial wings even today. The book gives a reference for the advantages of the arched wing.
** [[Pichancourt]] develops a mechanical bird which aimed to imitate the motion of a bird's wings in flight.
** [[Lawrence Hargrave]], a British immigrant to Australia, constructs a rotary engine driven by compressed air.
** A British Army observation balloon section takes part in the Army Manoeuvres at [[Aldershot]].<ref name="earlymilitaryballooning"/>
** 24 September &ndash; American balloonist and [[Parachuting|parachutist]] [[Charles Leroux]] makes his 239th jump, dropping from a seat under a balloon over [[Tallinn|Reval]], [[Estland Governorate]], in the [[Russian Empire]]. Winds carry him out over [[Tallinn Bay]], where he drowns after landing {{convert|2|km|mi nmi}} offshore.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leroux, Charles|url=http://www.eestigiid.ee/?Person=nimi&PYear=aasta&start=120&ItemID=106|publisher=eestigiid.ee|language=Estonian}}</ref>

== 1890–1900 ==
[[File:EolePatent.jpg|thumbnail|Patent drawing of Ader's ''Eole'']]
[[File:Otto Lilienthal gliding experiment ppmsca.02546.jpg|thumbnail|Otto Lilienthal in flight, ca. 1895]]
* '''1890'''
** The [[British Army]] establishes a Balloon Section of the [[Royal Engineers]], commanded by Lieutenant H. B. Jones. A balloon factory and a ballooning school support the new section.<ref name="earlymilitaryballooning"/>
** 9 October &ndash; The first brief flight of [[Clément Ader]]'s steam-powered [[fixed-wing aircraft]] ''Eole'' takes place in [[Satory]], France. It flies uncontrolled approximately {{convert|50|m|ft|abbr=off}} at a height of {{convert|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} before crashing, but it is the first take-off of a powered airplane solely under its own power.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Tom D|last=Crouch|title=Clément Ader|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/5780/Clement-Ader|access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flyingmachines.org/ader.html|first=Carroll|last=Gray|title=Clement Ader 1841&ndash;1925|work=Flying Machines|date=1998–2003|access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref><ref name=Hops>{{cite journal|first=Charles H.|last=Gibbs-Smith|author-link=Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith|title=Hops and Flights: A Roll Call of Early Powered Take-offs|journal=[[Flight International|Flight]]|volume=75|page=468|year=1959|url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%200937.html|access-date=2011-03-03}}</ref><ref name="Donald Macintyre 1968, p. 8">[[Donald Macintyre (Royal Navy officer)|Macintyre, Donald]], ''Aircraft Carrier: The Majestic Weapon'', New York: Ballantine Books Inc., 1968, p. 8.</ref>
* '''1891'''
** [[Otto Lilienthal]] flies about {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}} in his [[Derwitzer Glider]].
** [[Clément Ader]] makes a second flight in ''Eole'', an uncontrolled {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} hop that ends in a crash. Ader later will experiment with an even less successful twin-engined steam-powered aircraft before giving up his aircraft experiments.<ref name="Donald Macintyre 1968, p. 8"/>
** 29 April &ndash; [[Chuhachi Ninomiya]] flies the first [[model airplane]] in Japan, a [[Rubber band|rubber-band]]-powered [[monoplane]] with a four-bladed [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] propeller and three-wheeled landing gear. It makes flights of {{convert|3|and|10|m|ft|sp=us}}. The next day it flies {{convert|36|m|ft|abbr=off}}.<ref>Francillon, René J., ''Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, {{ISBN|0-87021-313-X}}, p. 1.</ref>
* '''1892'''
** February &ndash; The first contract is awarded for the construction of a military airplane: [[Clément Ader]] is contracted by the French War Ministry to build a two-seater aircraft to be used as a [[bomber aircraft|bomber]], capable of lifting a 75-kilogram (165-pound) bombload.<ref>Crosby, Francis, ''The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World{{'}}s Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day,'' London: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-84476-917-9}}, p. 16.</ref>
** August &ndash; [[Clément Ader]] later claims to have made an uncontrolled flight of {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=off}} in the [[Ader Avion II|''Avion II'']] (also referred to as the ''Zephyr'' or ''Éole II'') at a field in [[Satory]] in this month.
** [[Otto Lilienthal]] flies over {{convert|82|m|yd|abbr=off}} in his Südende-Glider.
** [[Austria-Hungary]]'s [[Austro-Hungarian Army|army]] gains a permanent air corps, the ''Kaiserlich und Königliche Militäraeronautische Anstalt'' ("Imperial and Royal Military Aeronautical Group") 
* '''1893'''
** Otto Lilienthal flies about {{convert|250|m|ft|abbr=on}} in his Maihöhe-Rhinow-Glider.
** [[Lawrence Hargrave]] demonstrates a human-carrying glider in Australia at an aeronautical congress in Sydney. It is based on the [[box kite]], an invention of Hargrave's. It becomes an example for several scientific kites and aeroplane constructions.
** [[British Army]] Captain [[Baden Baden-Powell]] begins experiments with [[man-lifting kite]]s.<ref name="kiting">[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/rfc_centenary/british-military-aviation-1862-1912/Kiting.aspx rafmuseum.org.uk Kiting]</ref>
** [[Horatio Phillips]] builds a steam-powered test rig at [[Harrow, London|Harrow]]. A "venetian blind" style multiplane with a stack of wings each with a span of {{convert|19|ft|m|order=flip}} and a [[chord (aircraft)|chord]] of only {{convert|4|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}}. Tethered to the centre of a circular track, its rear wheels rose {{convert|60|–|90|cm|ft|abbr=on}} while front wheels remained on ground.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p.84</ref> 
* '''1894'''
** Czeslaw Tanski successfully flies powered models in Poland and begins work on full-size gliders.
** Railway engineer [[Octave Chanute]] publishes ''Progress in Flying Machines'', describing the research completed so far into flight. Chanute's book, a summary of many articles published in the "American Engineer and Railroad Journal", is a comprehensive account on the stage of development worldwide on the way to the aeroplane.
** Otto Lilienthal's [[Normal soaring apparatus]] is the first serial production of a glider. Using different aircraft constructions he covers distances of up to {{convert|250|m|ft}}.
** The [[British Army]] forms a kiting section for the operation of [[man-lifting kite]]s within the [[Royal Engineers]].<ref name="kiting"/>
** 31 July &ndash; [[Hiram Maxim]] launches an enormous [[biplane]] test rig with a wingspan of {{convert|32|m|ft|abbr=on}} propelled by two steam engines. It lifts off and engages the restraining rails, which prevent it from leaving the track.<ref name=Hops />
** November &ndash; [[Lawrence Hargrave]] demonstrates stable flight with a tethered box kite.
** 4 December &ndash; German [[meteorologist]] and [[Aerology|Aerologist]] [[Arthur Berson]] ascends to {{convert|9155|m|ft|abbr=off}} in a balloon, setting a new world altitude record for human flight.
* '''1895'''
** [[Percy Pilcher]] makes his first successful flight in a glider named the ''Bat''.<ref>Lewis 1962, p.397.</ref>
**[[Pablo Suarez (aviator)|Pablo Suarez]] flies his Suarez Glider in Argentina, following correspondence with Lilienthal.
** By the mid-1890s, the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] has established "[[aerostat]]ic parks" on the coasts of the [[Baltic Sea]] and [[Black Sea]].<ref>Layman 1989 p. 85.</ref>
* '''1896'''
** 6 May &ndash; [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]] flies the unmanned Aerodrome No. 5 from a houseboat on the [[Potomac River]] a distance of {{convert|3300|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the first truly successful flight of one of his powered models.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p.80</ref>
** June &ndash; Octave Chanute organises a flyer camp at [[Lake Michigan]] during which both a copy of one of Lilienthal's designs and a biplane built by Chanute are tested.<ref>Hallion 2003, p.175.</ref>
** 9 August &ndash; Otto Lilienthal crashes after a [[stall (flight)|stall]] caused by a gust, breaking his back. He dies the following day.<ref>Hallion 2003, p.161.</ref>
** October &ndash; Ground testing of an all-aluminium airship designed by the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] engineer [[David Schwarz (aviation inventor)|David Schwarz]] and built by [[Carl Berg (airship builder)|Carl Berg]], begins in Berlin. Schwarz will die of a [[heart attack]] before seeing it fly.<ref>[[John R. Phythyon Jr.|Phythyon, John R. Jr.]], ''Great War at Sea: Zeppelins'', Virginia Beach, Virginia: Avalanche Press, Inc., 2007, pp. 5, 43.</ref>
** November &ndash; Samuel Pierpont Langley flies the unmanned Aerodrome No. 6 a distance of {{convert|4200|ft|m|abbr=on}}.
** Germans [[August von Parseval]] and Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld invent the kite balloon for observations in strong winds.
**William Paul Butusov, a Russian immigrant to U.S, with the Chanute group, construct the [[Albatross Soaring Machine]] which achieves an unmanned unpowered uncontrolled hop from a ramp.
**[[William Frost]], Welsh, flies the [[Frost Airship Glider]] 500 meters, possibly with balloon assist.
* '''1897'''
** 11 June &ndash; [[Salomon Andrée]], [[Nils Strindberg]], and [[Knut Frænkel]] [[S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897|attempt an expedition]] to the [[North Pole]] by free balloon from [[Spitsbergen]]. They crash within three days but manage to survive for several months in the pack ice. Their remains are discovered in 1930 on White Island. It was possible to develop the preserved film material.<ref>Hallion 2003 p. 79</ref>
** 12 June &ndash; Friedrich Hermann Wölfert and his mechanic are killed when their petrol-powered airship catches fire during a demonstration at the [[Tempelhof]] field.<ref>Robinson 1973 p. 3.</ref>
** 14 October &ndash; [[Clément Ader]] later asserts that on this date he made a {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=on}} flight in his steam-powered uncontrolled [[Avion III]] also referred to as ''Aquilon'' or the ''Éole III''. His claim is disputed. The [[French Army]] is not impressed and withdraws funding.
** 3 November &ndash; The first flight in a [[rigid airship]] is made by Ernst Jägels, flying the all-aluminium craft designed by [[David Schwarz (aviation inventor)|David Schwarz]] and built by Carl Berg. It reaches an altitude of {{convert|24|m|ft|abbr=on}}, proving metal-framed airships can become airborne, but after an engine failure is damaged beyond repair in an emergency landing.<ref>Robinson 1973, pp.5-6.</ref> 
** [[Carl Rickard Nyberg]] starts working on his [[Flugan]].
* '''1898'''
** March &ndash; [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] calls for the creation of a four-[[Commissioned officer|officer]] board to study the utility of [[Samuel P. Langley]]{{'}}s "flying machine," the [[Langley Aerodrome]]. Roosevelt asserts that "the machine has worked." It is the first documented [[United States Navy]] expression of interest in aviation.<ref>Butler, Glen, Col., USMC, "That Other Air Service Centennial," ''Naval History'', June 2012, p. 54.</ref> The machine is commissioned by the [[United States Army Signal Corps]].
** 2 September &ndash; [[Alberto Santos-Dumont]] flies his first airship design.<ref>Robinson 1973, p.5.</ref> 
** 22 October &ndash; [[Augustus Moore Herring]] claims a heavier-than-air flight along the beach at St. Joseph, Michigan, of {{convert|70|ft|m}} by attaching a compressed air motor to a biplane hang glider. However, there are no witnesses.
** The [[Aéro-Club de France]] is founded.<ref>Gibbs-Smith 2003, p. 87.</ref>
** The [[French Navy]] [[torpedo boat tender]] [[French seaplane carrier Foudre|''Foudre'']] operates a spherical balloon experimentally during naval maneuvers in the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref>Layman 1989 p. 17.</ref>
** [[Lyman Gilmore|Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr.]], American, builds a steam driven monoplane.
** [[Edson Fessenden Gallaudet]], American, builds a hydroplane.
* '''1899'''
** The [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague Convention of 1899]] prohibits military aircraft from discharging projectiles and explosives, but permits the wartime use of aircraft for reconnaissance and other purposes.<ref>Whitehouse 1966, p. 32.</ref>
** The [[Wright brothers]] begin experimenting with wing-warping as a means of controlling an aircraft.
** [[Samuel Cody]] begins experiments with kites big enough to lift a person.
** Percy Pilcher flies various gliders and is close to completing a powered machine but is killed when his glider crashes at [[Stanford Hall (Lutterworth)|Stanford Hall]], England after a tail strut fails. Pilcher used a team of horses to pull the glider into the air.<ref>Lewis 1962, p.399.</ref>
** 22 November – The first of three [[British Army]] [[observation balloon]] sections arrives in [[South Africa]] to take part in the [[Second Boer War]]. The war will see the first large-scale use of observation balloons by the [[British armed forces]].<ref name="BoerWar">[http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/rfc_centenary/british-military-aviation-1862-1912/early-military-ballooning/the-boer-war.aspx rafmuseum.org.uk The Boer War]</ref>
** 11 December – A British Army observation balloon section takes part in the [[Battle of Magersfontein]] during the Second Boer War.<ref name="BoerWar"/>
* '''1900'''
** February &ndash; In the [[Second Boer War]], a [[British Army]] [[observation balloon]] section takes part in the [[relief of Ladysmith]].<ref name="BoerWar"/>
** 2 July &ndash; Count [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]] pilots his experimental first [[Zeppelin]], [[Zeppelin LZ1|''LZ 1'']], over [[Lake Constance]], reaching an altitude of {{convert|400|m|ft|abbr=off}} with five men on board. Although the flight lasts only 18 minutes, covers only {{convert|5.6|km|mi|sp=us}}, and ends in an emergency landing on the lake, it is the first flight of a truly successful [[rigid airship]].<ref>[[Wilbur Cross (author)|Cross, Wilbur]], ''Zeppelins of World War I'', New York: Barnes & Noble, 1991. {{ISBN|1-56619-390-7}}, pp. 1-4.</ref>
** 12 September &ndash; The [[Wright brothers]] arrive at [[Kitty Hawk, North Carolina|Kitty Hawk]], [[North Carolina]], to begin their first season of [[glider aircraft|glider]] experiments there.<ref>Crouch 1989, p. 186.</ref>
** 3 October &ndash; Probably on this date, [[Wilbur Wright]] makes the Wright brothers{{'}} first glider flight at Kitty Hawk. During their tests, they will fly the [[Wright Glider#1900 glider|1900 glider]] both as a glider and as a kite under various wind conditions.<ref>Crouch 1989, p. 189.</ref>
** 17 October &ndash; On her second flight, the Zeppelin ''LZ 1'' remains aloft for 80 minutes.<ref>Phythyon, John R., Jr., ''Great War at Sea: Zeppelins'', Virginia Beach, Virginia: Avalanche Press, Inc., 2007, p. 5.</ref>
** 23 October &ndash; The Wright brothers abandon their [[Wright Glider#1900 glider|1900 glider]] in a sand hollow and break camp at Kitty Hawk to return home to [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref>Crouch 1989, p. 199.</ref>
** November &ndash; The British Army's observation balloon section's duty in the Second Boer War comes to an end. It is ordered home from [[South Africa]] because the [[Boer]]s have switched to guerrilla tactics, making the balloons unsuitable for supporting British operations.<ref name="BoerWar"/>

== Births ==
* '''1825'''
** 8 February &ndash; [[Henri Giffard]], French inventor, dirigible designer (suicide 1882)
* '''1838'''
** 8 July &ndash; [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]], German airship manufacturer (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]])
* '''1841'''
** 2 April &ndash; [[Clément Ader]], French inventor (died [[1925 in aviation|1925]])
* '''1848'''
** 23 May &ndash; [[Otto Lilienthal]], German glider pilot (died 1896 in aviation accident)
* '''1853'''
** 25 July &ndash; [[Park Van Tassel]], American balloonist and parachute designer (died [[1930 in the United States|1930]])
* '''1854'''
** 28 March &ndash; [[Sir George White, 1st Baronet]], English transport entrepreneur, aircraft manufacturer (died [[1916 in aviation|1916]])
* '''1858'''
** 15 February &ndash; [[John Joseph Montgomery]], American aviator (died [[1911 in aviation|1911]])
* '''1859'''
** 3 February &ndash; [[Hugo Junkers]], German aircraft manufacturer (died [[1935 in aviation|1935]])
* '''1863'''
** 13 December &ndash; [[Mason Patrick]], Chief of United States Army Air Service (died [[1942 in the United States|1942]])
* '''1865'''
** 10 June &ndash; [[E. Lilian Todd]], American aircraft designer (died [[1937 in aviation|1937]])
* '''1866'''
** 16 January &ndash; [[Percy Pilcher]], English glider pilot (died [[1899]] in aviation accident)
* '''1867'''
** 6 March &ndash; [[Samuel Franklin Cody]], American-born showman and aviator (died [[1913 in aviation]] accident)
** 16 April &ndash; [[Wilbur Wright]], American aviator (died [[1912 in aviation|1912]] of typhoid fever)
* '''1871'''
** 19 August &ndash; [[Orville Wright]], American aviator (died [[1948 in aviation|1948]])
* '''1872'''
** 13 March &ndash; [[Léon Delagrange]], French aviator and sculptor (died [[1910 in aviation]] accident)
** 1 July &ndash; [[Louis Blériot]], French aviator (died [[1936 in aviation|1936]])
* '''1873'''
** 3 February
*** [[Karl Jatho]], German aviation pioneer (died [[1933 in aviation|1933]])
*** [[Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard]], English military aviator (died [[1956 in aviation|1956]])
** 20 July &ndash; [[Alberto Santos-Dumont]], Brazilian aeronautical engineer (suicide [[1932 in aviation|1932]])
** 26 September &ndash; [[Thérèse Peltier]], French sculptor and pioneer aviator (died [[1926 in aviation|1926]])
* '''1874'''
** 26 May &ndash; [[Henri Farman]], Anglo-French aviator (died [[1958 in aviation|1958]])
* '''1875'''
** 11 May &ndash; [[Harriet Quimby]], American aviator, journalist and screenwriter (died [[1912 in aviation]] accident)
** 11 September &ndash; [[Horatio Barber]], English aviation pioneer (died [[1964 in aviation|1964]])
* '''1876'''
** 14 October &ndash; [[Charles de Tricornot de Rose]], French military aviator (died [[1916 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1877'''
** 22 March &ndash; [[Sefton Brancker]], English air vice marshal (died [[1930 in aviation]] accident)
** 27 August &ndash; [[Charles Rolls]], English aviator and automobile pioneer (died [[1910 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1878'''
** 8 January &ndash; [[Millicent Bryant]], Australian pilot (drowned [[1927 in aviation|1927]])
** 21 May &ndash; [[Glenn Curtiss]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1930 in aviation|1930]])
** 28 September &ndash; [[Lilian Bland]], Anglo-Irish journalist and pioneer aviator (died [[1971 in aviation|1971]])
** 29 December &ndash; [[Marthe Niel]], French pilot (died [[1928 in aviation|1928]])
* '''1879'''
** 21 August &ndash; [[Claude Grahame-White]], English aviator (died [[1959 in aviation|1959]])
* '''1880'''
** 5 February &ndash; [[Gabriel Voisin]], French aircraft manufacturer (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
* '''1881'''
** 27 September &ndash; [[Raymond Saulnier (aircraft manufacturer)|Raymond Saulnier]], French aircraft manufacturer (died [[1964 in aviation|1964]])
** 1 October &ndash; [[William Boeing]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1956 in aviation|1956]])
* '''1882'''
** 27 July &ndash; [[Geoffrey de Havilland]], English aircraft manufacturer and sportsman (died [[1965 in aviation|1965]])
** 19 November &ndash; [[Aurel Vlaicu]], Romanian aeronautical engineer and pilot (died [[1913 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1883'''
** 10 January &ndash; [[Hubert Latham]], French aviator (died [[1912 in aviation|1912]])
** 16 January &ndash; [[Oswald Short]], English aeronautical engineer (died [[1969 in aviation|1969]])
** 19 July &ndash; [[Louis Paulhan]], French aviator (died [[1963 in aviation|1963]])
* '''1884'''
** 8 February &ndash; [[John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara]], English aviator and politician (died [[1964 in aviation|1964]])
** 14 May &ndash; [[Claude Dornier]], German aircraft designer (died [[1969 in aviation|1969]])
** 12 June &ndash; [[Henry Petre]], English solicitor and pioneer Australian military aviator (died [[1962 in aviation|1962]])
** 25 October &ndash; [[B. C. Hucks]], English aviation pioneer (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]])
* '''1885'''
** 5 March &ndash; [[Graham Gilmour]], English aviator (died [[1912 in aviation]] accident)
** 14 March &ndash; [[Raoul Lufbery]], French American fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 6 June &ndash; [[Roy Fedden]], English aircraft engine designer (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
** 15 November &ndash; [[Frederick Handley Page]], English aircraft manufacturer (died [[1962 in aviation|1962]])
** 30 November &ndash; [[Albert Kesselring]], German military aviator (died [[1960 in aviation|1960]])
* '''1886'''
** 8 February &ndash; [[Gunther Plüschow]], German aviator (died [[1931 in aviation]] accident)
** 23 February &ndash; [[Didier Masson]], French aviator (died [[1950 in aviation|1950]])
** 25 June &ndash; [[Henry H. Arnold]], American military aviator, General of the Air Force (died [[1950 in aviation|1950]])
** 23 July &ndash; [[Arthur Whitten Brown]], English aviator (died [[1948 in aviation|1948]])
* '''1887'''
** 24 May &ndash; [[Mick Mannock]], British fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 22 September &ndash; [[Maurice Prévost]], French aviator (died [[1952 in aviation|1952]])
** 26 September &ndash; [[William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse]], English military aviator (died [[1915 in aviation|1915]] of wounds)
** 11 November &ndash; [[Walther Wever (general)|Walther Wever]], German military aviator (died [[1936 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1888'''
** 18 January &ndash; [[Thomas Sopwith]], English aircraft manufacturer (died [[1989 in aviation|1989]])
** 24 January &ndash; [[Ernst Heinkel]], German aircraft manufacturer (died [[1958 in aviation|1958]])
** 25 May &ndash; [[George Herbert Scott]], English aviator (died [[1930 in aviation]] accident)
** 6 October &ndash; [[Roland Garros (aviator)|Roland Garros]], French aviator (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 29 October (10 November [[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]]) &ndash; [[Andrei Tupolev]], Russian aircraft designer (died [[1972 in aviation|1972]])
* '''1889'''
** 22 January &ndash; [[Harry Hawker]], Australian-born aviator (died [[1921 in aviation]] accident)
** 1 May &ndash; [[Herbert Smith (aircraft designer)|Herbert Smith]], English aeronautical engineer (died [[1977 in aviation|1977]])
** 25 May &ndash; [[Igor Sikorsky]], Russian-born aircraft manufacturer (died [[1972 in aviation|1972]])
** 13 June &ndash; [[Adolphe Pégoud]], French acrobatic pilot and first fighter ace (died [[1915 in aviation|1915]] in action)
** 25 June &ndash; [[Gustav Hamel]], German-born British aviator (lost on flight [[1914 in aviation|1914]])
* '''1890'''
** 6 April &ndash; [[Anthony Fokker]], Dutch aircraft manufacturer (died [[1939 in aviation|1939]])
** 13 August &ndash; [[Lydia Zvereva]], Russian aviation pioneer (died [[1916 in aviation|1916]])
** 22 August &ndash; [[Hans-Joachim Buddecke]], German fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 21 September &ndash; [[Max Immelmann]], German fighter ace (died [[1916 in aviation|1916]] in action)
** 8 October &ndash; [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], American fighter ace (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
** 25 October &ndash; [[Floyd Bennett]], American naval aviator (died [[1928 in aviation|1928]])
** 30 December &ndash; [[Lanoe Hawker]], English fighter ace (died [[1916 in aviation|1916]] in action)
* '''1891'''
** 22 January &ndash; [[Bruno Loerzer]], German military aviator (died [[1960 in aviation|1960]]) 
** 30 January &ndash; [[Walter Beech]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1950 in aviation|1950]])
** 18 February &ndash; [[Julius Busa]], German fighter ace (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]] in action)
** 3 March &ndash; [[Fritz Rumey]], German fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 24 March &ndash; [[Rudolf Berthold]], German fighter ace (died [[1920 in aviation|1920]] in [[Kapp Putsch]])
** 5 April &ndash; [[Eric Gordon England]], Argentine-born English aviator, pioneer glider pilot and racing driver (died [[1970 in aviation|1970]])
** 16 May &ndash; [[Adolf Ritter von Tutschek]], German fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** 19 May &ndash; [[Oswald Boelcke]], German fighter ace (died [[1916 in aviation|1916]] in action)
** 11 July &ndash; [[Joseph Sadi-Lecointe]], French aviator (died [[1944 in aviation|1944]])
** July 30 &ndash; [[Roderic Dallas]], Australian World War I fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in action)
** December 6 &ndash; [[Gotthard Sachsenberg]], German naval aviator, fighter ace (died [[1961 in aviation|1961]])
** December 17 &ndash; [[Karl Emil Schäfer]], German fighter ace (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]] in action)
** [[Zee Yee Lee]], Chinese aviation pioneer (died [[1944 in aviation|1944]])
* '''1892'''
** January 26 &ndash; [[Bessie Coleman]], American pilot (died [[1926 in aviation|1926]])<ref>{{cite book|first=Linda|last=Barr|title=Bessie Coleman: Pioneer Pilot|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=Zaner-Bloser|year=2004|page=6|isbn=978-0-73672-039-7}}</ref>
** 15 March &ndash; [[Charles Nungesser]], French fighter ace (died [[1927 in aviation|1927]] accident)
** 30 March &ndash; [[Erhard Milch]], German military aviator (died [[1972 in aviation|1972]])
** 6 April &ndash; [[Donald Wills Douglas Sr.]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1981 in aviation|1981]])
** 13 April
*** [[Arthur Harris|Arthur "Bomber" Harris]], English military aviator (died [[1984 in aviation|1984]])
*** [[Robert Watson-Watt]], Scottish pioneer of radar (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
** 2 May &ndash; [[Manfred von Richthofen]], German fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]] in combat)
** 6 July &ndash; [[Willy Coppens]], Belgian fighter ace (died [[1986 in aviation|1986]])
** 11 July &ndash; [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory]], English military aviator (died [[1944 in aviation]] accident)
** 17 July &ndash; [[Edwin Harris Dunning]], English naval aviator (died [[1917 in aviation]] accident)
** 5 November &ndash; [[John Alcock (RAF officer)|John Alcock]], English aviator (died [[1919 in aviation]] accident)
** 14 November &ndash; [[Dieudonné Costes]], French aviator (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
** 8 December &ndash; [[Bert Hinkler]], Australian pioneer aviator (died [[1933 in aviation]] accident)
** 24 December &ndash; [[Ruth Chatterton]], American actress, novelist and aviator (died [[1961 in aviation|1961]])
** 27 December &ndash; [[Alfred Edwin McKay]], Canadian fighter ace (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]] in combat)
* '''1893'''
** 12 January &ndash; [[Hermann Göring]], German military aviator (suicide [[1946 in aviation|1946]])
** 5 August &ndash; [[Sydney Camm]], English aircraft designer (died [[1966 in aviation|1966]])
** 17 December &ndash; [[Charles C. Banks]], English fighter ace (died [[1971 in aviation|1971]])
* '''1894'''
** 7 March &ndash; [[Frank Halford]], English aircraft engine designer (died [[1955 in aviation|1955]])
** 27 March &ndash; [[René Fonck]], French fighter ace (died [[1953 in aviation|1953]])
** 5 April &ndash; [[Lawrence Dale Bell|Larry Bell]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1956 in aviation|1956]])
** 6 May &ndash; [[Alan Cobham]], English aviator (died [[1973 in aviation|1973]])
** 13 December &ndash; [[Friedrich Hefty]], Austro-Hungarian fighter ace (died [[1965 in aviation|1965]])
** 24 December &ndash; [[Georges Guynemer]], French fighter ace (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]] in action)
* '''1895'''
** 28 March &ndash; [[James McCudden]], English fighter ace (died [[1918 in aviation]] accident)
** 20 May &ndash; [[R. J. Mitchell]], English aircraft designer (died [[1937 in aviation|1937]])
** 14 July &ndash; [[Leefe Robinson]], English military aviator (died [[1918 in aviation|1918]])
** 21 September &ndash; [[Juan de la Cierva, 1st Count of la Cierva]], Spanish aeronautical engineer (died [[1936 in aviation]] accident)
** 28 October (probable) &ndash; [[Clyde Pangborn]], American aviator (died [[1958 in aviation|1958]])
** 1 November &ndash; [[Arthur Raymond Brooks]], American fighter ace and aviator (died [[1991 in aviation|1991]])
* '''1896'''
** 12 April &ndash; [[Edwin Eugene Aldrin Sr.]], American aviator (died [[1974 in aviation|1974]])
** 26 April &ndash; [[Ernst Udet]], German military aviator (suicide [[1941 in aviation|1941]])
** 14 August &ndash; [[Albert Ball]], English fighter ace (died [[1917 in aviation|1917]] in combat)
* '''1897'''
** 9 February &ndash; [[Charles Kingsford Smith]], Australian aviator (died [[1935 in aviation]] accident)
** 23 February &ndash; [[Edgar Percival]], Australian aircraft designer (died [[1984 in aviation|1984]])
** 24 July &ndash; [[Amelia Earhart]], American aviator (lost [[1937 in aviation|1937]] on flight)
** 15 August &ndash; [[Ludovic Arrachart]], French aviator (died [[1933 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1898'''
** 18 January &ndash; [[George McCubbin]], South African fighter pilot and cricketer (died [[1944 in aviation|1944]])
** 22 November &ndash; [[Wiley Post]], American aviator (died [[1935 in aviation]] accident)
* '''1899'''
** 17 January &ndash; [[Nevil Shute]] (Norway), English-born novelist and aeronautical engineer (died [[1960 in aviation|1960]])
** 24 January &ndash; [[Hoyt Vandenberg]], American military aviator (died [[1954 in aviation|1954]])
** 9 April &ndash; [[James Smith McDonnell]], American aircraft manufacturer (died [[1980 in aviation|1980]])
** 1 August &ndash; [[Jimmie Angel]], American aviator (died [[1956 in aviation|1956]])
** 24 August &ndash; [[Max Näther]], German fighter ace (died [[1919 in aviation|1919]] in combat)

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
*[[Tom D. Crouch|Crouch, Tom]], ''The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright''. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989.
*[[Charles Harvard Gibbs-Smith|Gibbs-Smith, C.H.]], ''Aviation''. London: NMSI, 2003. {{ISBN|1 900747 52 9}}
*[[Richard P. Hallion|Hallion, Richard P.]] ''Taking Flight'', New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0 19 516035 5}}
*[[Richard Holmes (biographer)|Holmes, Richard]], ''Falling Upwards''. London: Collinis, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-00-738692-5}}
*Layman, R.D., ''Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, {{ISBN|0-87021-210-9}}
*Lewis, Peter ''British Aircraft 1809-1914'', London: Putnam, 1962.
*Robinson, Douglas H., ''Giants in the Sky'', Henley-on Thames: Foulis, 1973. {{ISBN|0 85429 145 8}}
*Whitehouse, Arch, ''The Zeppelin Fighters'', New York: Ace Books, 1966.

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