United States.
==Dec.17 > THE WRIGHT BROTHERS ACHIEVE THE WORLD’S FIRST POWERED FLIGHT at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

United States.
==Jan.05 > The Wright brothers issue a statement to the Associated Press announcing their successful flight - the press largely ignores them
==Mar.--- > The first published report of the Wright brothers’ flight is printed in Popular Science Monthly
==May.--- > The Wright brothers begin a series of test flights near Dayton, Ohio
==Aug.--- > The maiden flight of the California Arrow, America’s first large dirigible
==Sep.20 > Improved steering enables the Wrights to make the first circular flight

France.
==Oct.--- > Esnault-Pelterie invents the aileron, originally devised for use on gliders

United States.Military.
==Jan.18 > The Wright brothers open negotiations with the War Department to build an airplane for the US Army - see Oct.16

United States.
==Jan.--- > The first published eyewitness account of an airplane flight (the Wright brothers’) appears in Gleanings in Bee Culture magazine, a speciality journal for beekeepers

Russia.
==Mar.03 (Old Style?) > Lipkovskiy tests a primitive helicopter in St. Petersburg

United States.
==Mar.16 > The first glider descent from a balloon, by Maloney - Maloney will die in a glider mishap in July

France.
==Mar.--- > The world's first airport is in use at Issyles-Moulineaux, for gliders
==Apr.13 > Suicide of French military aeronautics pioneer Renard
==Jun.08 > The world’s first aircraft to operate from water: a glider designed by Voisin and Archdeacon

United States.
==Jun.23 > The first flight of the Wright Flyer III, the Wright brothers’ first practical, fully controllable airplane
==Oct.05 > The Wright Flyer III flies for 38 minutes over 24 miles
==Oct.16 > Fearing that their ideas will be stolen, the Wright brothers prohibit public viewing of their planes and cease flying until May.1908 - ~their overtures to the US War Department are rebuffed

France.Military.
==Nov.04 > After being visited by a French officer, the Wright brothers urge the French government to establish an air arm - they are ignored

United States.
==1905 > The first military airship test flight is undertaken at Ft Meyers, Virginia

United States.
==May.22 > The Wright brothers’ basic airplane patent is granted

Scandinavia.
==Aug.16 > The first lift-off of the crude Ellehammer semi-biplane in Denmark
==Sep.12 > Ellehammer’s improved ‘biplane’ lifts off, but the Danish craft is not generally credited as the first European plane to fly

France.
==Oct.23 & Nov.12 > Santos Dumont makes the first airplane flights in Europe, at Bagatelle in France

United States.Military.
==Nov.15 > Curtis LeMay is born in Columbus, Ohio
==1906 > US Army officer Billy Mitchell predicts in the Cavalry Journal that "conflicts, no doubt, will be carried out in the future in the air."

France.Military.
==1906 > The first military airships are bought by France from Lebaudy, setting off the first air arms race, with Germany

France.
==1906 > The Voison brothers establish the world’s first aircraft factory, in a Parisian suburb

France.
==Mar.--- > The Voisin brothers build the first European biplane

France.Military.
==Jul.22 > French Premier Clemenceau and War Minister Picquart fly above Paris in the military airship Patrie

United States.Military.
==Aug.01 > The US Signal Corps establishes an Aeronautical Division, with three men - the first permanent American air service

Arctic.
==Sep.02-Oct.1909 > The American explorer Walter Wellman makes two unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Pole by semi-rigid airship, from Spitsbergen

Britain.Military.
==Sep.10 > The first British military airship makes its first trial flight

France.
==Sep.30 > First flight of the relatively advanced Voisin-Farman I

France.Military.
==Oct.17 > The French airship Lebaudy II drops dummy bombs and takes aerial photos in a test flight - ~France is building a fleet of small dirigibles

Canada.
==Oct.--- > On his Nova Scotian estate, Alexander Graham Bell organizes the Aerial Experiment Association, including Glenn Curtiss

France.
==Nov.10 > Blériot introduces the first modern-configured aircraft: a monoplane with a front propeller, covered fuselage, and tail unit... but it can barely fly
==Nov.13 > Bicycle-dealer Cornu achieves the first lift-off by a helicopter - one foot off the ground for twenty seconds - but the craft breaks up on landing

United States.Military.
==Dec.23 > The US Army issues its first specifications for a military airplane
==1907 > Hap Arnold is commissioned in the US Army

France.
==Jan.13 > Henri Farman wins the Archdeacon-Deutsch Prize for flying a one
kilometer course

United States.Military.
==Feb.10 > The US Army finally accepts the Wright brothers’ bid to build a military airplane

United States.
==May.14 > Wilbur Wright takes up the first airplane passenger, in North Carolina

United States.Military.
==May.19 > Lt. Selfridge becomes the world’s first soldier to fly a heavier-than-air machine  (see Sep.17)

Italy.
==May.23 > First flight in Italy, by Delagrange in Rome

United States.
==Jun.10 > The first flying club forms: the Aeronautical Society of New York

Germany.
==Jun.28 > The first successful airplane flight in Germany
==Jul.01 > Zeppelin LZ4 accomplishes a 12-hour round trip

United States.
==Jul.04 > Glenn Curtiss in the June Bug wins the Scientific American prize in the first fully public flight in America - Curtiss begins to rival the Wright brothers

Germany.Military.
==summer > The Air Fleet League is established to promote German military aviation

Germany.
==Aug.05 > Zeppelin LZ4 goes down in flames - the German public enthusiastically raises funds for its replacement

France.
==Aug.08 > Wilbur Wright makes his first European flight at Le Mans - European aviators are amazed - the Wright brothers suddenly become internationally famous - ~AVIATION DEVELOPMENT RAPIDLY ACCELERATES IN EUROPE
==Sep.01 > Lorin proposes the jet propulsion of aircraft - the idea is ignored
==Sep.05 > First flight of a triplane, the Goupy I in France

United States.Military.
==Sep.03-17 > Orville Wright conducts a series of highly successful military flight trials at Fort Myer, Virginia

United States.
==Sep.09 > Orville Wright achieves the first airplane flight of more than one hour, at Fort Myer
==Sep.17 > Orville Wright crashes in a flight demonstration at Fort Myer - American Army Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge becomes the world’s first air fatality

France.Military.
==Sep.--- > The French National Aviation League is established to promote military aviation

Germany.Military.
==early.Oct > Retired German civil servant Rudolf Martin advocates building a Zeppelin fleet to invade Britain

Britain.
==Oct.16 > First flight in Britain, by the American-born Cody, at Farnborough

France.
==Oct.30 > The first cross-country flight, by Farman from Bony to Rheims

Britain.Military.
==Oct.--- > The British Committee for Imperial Defense forms a subcommittee to study the development of military aircraft  - ~they hear testimony from Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the machine gun, prophesying raids by a thousand bombers that “would make London look like a last year’s buzzard’s nest.” - ~military interest in airplanes begins to awaken

Italy.Military.
==Oct.--- > The first Italian military airship flies over Rome

Germany.
==Oct.--- > Euler establishes the first German airplane company, in Darmstadt

Austria-Hungary.Military.
==Oct.--- > Austrian Chief of Staff Conrad recommends government support of capable aircraft developers: the government balks

Britain.Military.
==Nov.--- > A British General Staff memo anticipates the use of airships in war, possibly including bombing

United States.Military.
==Dec.02 > A US Navy report first recommends the development of naval aviation

France.
==Dec.31 > Wilbur Wright sets the world endurance record at two hours twenty minutes (77 miles) and wins the Michelin Prize

Russia.Military.
==1908 > Russia begins constructing airships

France.
==Jan.23 > First flight of the Blériot XI, the most popular pre-WWI airplane

Britain.Military.
==Jan.28 > The British Committee for Imperial Defense aircraft subcommittee sees no threat of an air attack on Britain - it recommends minimal funding for airship development and none for airplanes
==Jan.--- > The British Aerial League is established to promote military aviation

France.
==Jan.--- > The Wright brothers start the world’s first flying school, at Pau in France

Canada.
==Feb.23 > First flight in Canada, by McCurdy of Alexander Graham Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association in Nova Scotia

Britain.Military.
==Feb.25 > The British Committee for Imperial Defense first discusses aircraft - Churchill urges the development of war planes

Italy.Military.
==Feb.--- > The Italian Aviators Club is established by military subsidies

France.
==Mar.09 > The first successful flight by a tractor-engined biplane (the Goupy II)

Britain.Military.
==Apr.21 > In a widely publicized speech, Lord Montagu warns that London is defenseless against a strategic air attack - ~ the first ‘airship scare’ is underway

Italy.
==Apr.24 > A passenger makes the first movie filmed from an airplane during a flight by Wilbur Wright at Centocelle in Italy

Britain.Military.
==end.Apr > The British government is organizing aviation research groups

Russia.
==May.--- > The twenty-year-old Russian aviation designer Igor Sikorsky makes his first attempts to build a helicopter

France.
==Jun.12 > Blériot pilots the first plane to carry two passengers

United States.
==Jun.26 > Glenn Curtiss makes the first commercial sale of an airplane - ~American aviation development stalls until WWI, as Curtiss and the Wright brothers expend their energy in patent infringement suits

Germany.Military.
==Jul.03 > The German Army receives its first Zeppelin - ~the German military airship program flourishes through WWI

Britain.
==Jul.13 > A. V. Roe becomes the first Briton to fly in an all-British airplane

France.Britain.
==Jul.19 > Latham fails in his attempt to fly the English Channel
==Jul.25.[dawn] > Blériot accomplishes the first flight over the English Channel, taking 37 minutes

Russia.
==Jul.25 > First flight in Russia, by Van den Schkrouff at Odessa

Scandinavia.
==Jul.29 > First flight in Sweden, by Legagneux at Stockholm

United States.Military.
==Aug.02 > The world’s first military airplane is bought by the US Army Signal Corps from the Wright Brothers
==Aug.16 > The US Secretary of the Navy rejects a Navy request for aircraft

France.
==Aug.22-29 > The first great international air show at Rheims draws 250,000 spectators; Glenn Curtiss wins the air race, attaining 47 mph - flight becomes internationally popularized - France dominates aviation to WWI - ~military interest in aviation is suddenly sharply increasing

United States.Military.
==Sep.01 > US Naval Attaché Commander Chapin, reporting on the Rheims Aviation Meet, envisions aircraft taking off from ships via a ‘floor’ (flight deck)

France.
==early.Sep > Lefebvre becomes the world’s first pilot to be killed in a crash

United States.Military.
==Sep.07 > The first US military airfield is established at College Park, Maryland

France.
==Sep.25 > The French dirigible le Republique crashes in flames, killing its crew

Germany.
==Sep.26 > Aviation Week (the first German air rally) begins near Berlin, with embarrassingly few German planes - the Kaiser is delighted by a flying display by Orville Wright, but prevents the Crown Prince from buying an airplane

Italy.
==Sep.--- > With Glenn Curtiss at the controls, D’Anunzio flies for the first time and comments “...until now I have never really lived.”

United States.Military.
==Oct.26 > Lt. Humphreys becomes the first US Army pilot to solo

Germany.Military.
==Oct.30 > German non-rigid airships carry out a simulated attack on a fort near Koblenz during army maneuvers

United States.Military.
==Nov.03 > Lt. Sweet becomes the first US Navy officer to fly, as a passenger in the Army’s Wright Military Flyer

Germany.
==Nov.19 > Zeppelin establishes the Delag civilian airship line after loosing his military contracts

Austria-Hungary.Military.
==Nov.23 > First flight of an Austrian-designed plane, by Etrich in an early version of the Taube (Dove) monoplane, which eventually becomes the standard early German military plane

United States.
==Nov.23 > The Wright brothers incorporate to commercially manufacture aircraft

France.Military.
==Nov.--- > The French artillery forces establish an air unit separate from the existing engineering air unit - ~French military aviation turf struggles
==1909 > Ader foresees the wartime terror bombing of cities

France.
==1909 > The classic seven-cylinder Gnome rotary aircraft engine is developed

Italy.Military.
==1909 > Military engineers form the first Italian aviation unit

Germany.Military.
==1909 > Germany demonstrates the first purpose-designed anti-aircraft guns

Germany.
==1909 > Professor Hugo Junkers envisions a giant ‘flying wing’ passenger aircraft

Russia.Military.
==1909 > The Russian War Ministry organizes an aviation branch

Africa.
==1909 > Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris takes up farming in Rhodesia

United States.Military.
==Jan.10-20 > The first major American air show is held in Los Angeles - Lt. Beck drops sandbags, in the first bombing experiment by the US Army

France.Military.
==Feb.10 > The French Army receives its first airplanes - ~the cavalry contemptuously refuses to contribute any men for pilot training

Germany.Military.
==Feb.--- > German Chief of Staff Moltke urges the army to flight-train pilots

France.
==Mar.08 > In France, the Baroness de Laroche becomes world’s first woman to qualify as a pilot

Latin America.
==Mar.10 > The world’s first night flight, by Aubrun near Buenos Aires

Australia.
==Mar.17 > Custace achieves the first controlled flight in Australia (or Dec.1910)

United States.Military.
==Mar.19 > The first Wright Flying School in America opens at Montgomery, Alabama, on the site that will later become Maxwell Air Force Base

France.
==Mar.28 > Fabre achieves the world’s first powered aircraft take-off from water

Britain.
==Apr.28 > Paulhan wins the first long-distance, cross-country airplane race, from London to Manchester

Russia.
==May.23-24 (Old Style?) > The first flights of Russian-built aircraft take place independently near St. Petersburg and Kiev

Britain.
==Jun.02 > Charles Rolls (the co-founder of Rolls-Royce) becomes the first to fly a circuit over the English Channel - a few days later he becomes the first British air fatality

Germany.
==Jun.22 > The world’s first major commercial airline starts service: Zeppelin’s Delag Company successfully transports 34,000 passengers by airship to 1914 without death or injury

United States.Military.
==Jun.30 > In California, Glenn Curtiss drops dummy bombs onto the outline of a battleship from fifty feet

Italy.Military.
==mid.1910 > The Italian aviation unit makes its first substantial order, for ten airplanes and nine airships

United States.
==Jul.10 > Brookins becomes the first pilot to fly above one mile, reaching 6,234 ft above Atlantic City, New Jersey

Germany.Military.
==Jul.23 > The first German military pilot solos

Belgium.Military.
==mid-summer > Belgian War Minister Hellebaut orders flight training instituted, but the Belgian Army moves slowly

France.Military.
==summer > The first French military flight schools are established

Germany.Military.
==summer > ~Euler files a patent for a device that allows a fixed machine gun to be fired from an airplane

United States.Military.
==Aug.20 > Lt. Fickel becomes the first person to discharge a military firearm from an airplane, near New York City

United States.
==Aug.27 > First use of radio to communicate with an airplane, by McCurdy in New York
==Sep.02 > Blanche Scott becomes the first American woman to fly solo, at Hammondsport, New York

Austria-Hungary.
==Sep.08 > The world’s first mid-air collision occurs in Austria, with no fatalities

Italy.
==Sep.23 > Jorge Chavez becomes the first airman to fly over the Alps, but crashes and dies upon landing in Italy

United States.Military.
==Sep.26 > Captain Chambers is designated to administer the US Navy’s aviation matters - the origins of the naval aviation office

France.
==Sep.27 > First flight of a twin-engined airplane, in France

France.Military.
==Sep.--- > French military maneuvers in Picardy utilize airplanes for the first time - the General Staff concludes that they’re excellent for reconnaissance, but that “no airplane will ever be powerful enough to carry bombs.” - ~airplanes are surpassing airships in effectiveness

Russia.Military.
==Sep.--- > Thirty trainees are enrolled at the Russian Army’s first flight schools

United States.
==Oct.11 > Theodore Roosevelt flies for the first time, over St. Louis

Atlantic.
==Oct.15-17 > The American explorer Walter Wellman unsuccessfully attempts a trans-Atlantic crossing in an airship

France.Military.
==Oct.22 > French air units are placed under a unified independent command - the origins of the Aéronautique Militaire

United States.
==Oct.22-31 > An international air meet is held at Belmont in New York - growing American public enthusiasm for flight

Germany.Military.
==Oct.--- > The first airplanes (Taubes) are delivered to the German military

United States.
==Nov.07 > The Wright Company’s Parmalee makes the world’s first haul of commercial freight by air, in Ohio

United States.Military.
==Nov.14 > The world’s first take-off from a ship is accomplished by civilian Eugene Ely, at Hampton Roads for the US Navy
==late.1910 > Glenn Curtiss establishes a US Army flight training school near San Diego

Balkans.
==Dec.10 > First flight of a jet-powered airplane, designed by Coanda in Romania

United States.Military.
==Dec.23 > Lt. Ellyson becomes the first US Navy officer to be ordered to report for flight training

Germany.
==Dec.--- > Young Anthony Fokker test flights his first airplane at Baden-Baden - he contracts pneumonia

Italy.
==1910 > Anzani develops the first practical air-cooled radial engines

Germany.Military.
==1910 > Germany has more military airships than the rest of the world combined
==1910 > The first German military flight school is established at Doberitz

Russia.Military.
==1910 > A Russian naval flight school is opened in Sebastopol

India.Military.
==1910 > The British use an airplane in Indian Army maneuvers at Aurangabad