The Treaty of Paris formally ends the American Revolutionary War.

Tags: American Revolution, Treaties, Diplomacy, Independence, Warfare, Nationalism

Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse invents the bolt-action rifle.

Tags: Weaponry, Military Technology, Industrial Revolution, Warfare

Ascanio Sobrero invents Nitroglycerin, the first explosive made that was stronger than black powder.

Tags: Chemistry, Explosives, Industrial Revolution, Warfare, Mining

Henri Giffard becomes the first person to make a manned, controlled and powered flight using a dirigible.

Tags: Aviation, Early Aviation, Transportation

1861–1867: French intervention in Mexico and the creation of the Second Mexican Empire, ruled by Maximilian I of Mexico and his consort Carlota of Mex...

Tags: Imperialism, Colonialism, French Empire, Mexican History, Maximilian I, Intervention, Warfare

Austro-Prussian War results in the dissolution of the German Confederation and the creation of the North German Confederation and the Austrian-Hungari...

Tags: Warfare, Nationalism, Unification, German Confederation, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Realpolitik, Otto von Bismarck, European History

Alfred Nobel invents dynamite, the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder.

Tags: Explosives, Mining, Construction, Warfare, Alfred Nobel, Industrial Revolution, Safety

Asaph Hall discovers the moons of Mars.

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Planetary Science, Mars

Paul Vieille invents Poudre B, the first smokeless powder for firearms.

Tags: Military Technology, Firearms, Weapons, Industrial Revolution, Defense, Warfare

1900: Zeppelin LZ 1 airship first produced.

Tags: Aviation, Industrial Revolution

The first Zeppelin is designed by Theodor Kober.

Tags: Aviation, Transportation, Industrial Revolution

First sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight achieved by an airplane flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina by Orville and Wilbur Wrigh...

Tags: Aviation, Flight, Transportation

October 23: Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont takes off and flies his 14-bis to a crowd in Paris.

Tags: Aviation, Flight

The first free flight of a rotary-wing aircraft is carried out by Paul Cornu.

Tags: Aviation, Flight, Early Aviation

January 18: Eugene Burton Ely lands on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania stationed in San Francisco harbor, marking the first time an aircraft lands on...

Tags: Aviation, Naval Technology, Military Technology, United States Navy, Transportation

Robert H. Goddard launches the first liquid fueled rocket.

Tags: Space Exploration, Rocketry, Aviation

May 20 – 21: Charles Lindbergh performs the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris; becomes a world hero.

Tags: Aviation, Transportation, Communication, Global Impact

Frank Whittle formally submitted his ideas for a turbo-jet engine. In October 1929, he developed his ideas further. On 16 January 1930, Whittle submit...

Tags: Aviation, World War II, Patent

February 18: Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Planets, Astrophysics, Solar System, Discovery

October 5: Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. complete the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean in their plane, Miss Veedol, in 41½ hours.

Tags: Aviation, Transportation

May 6: German zeppelin Hindenburg crashes in Lakehurst, New Jersey, ending the airship era.

Tags: Aviation, Disaster, Interwar Period, Commercial Aviation, Transportation

October 14: José P. Laurel takes the oath of office as President of the Second Philippine Republic.

Tags: World War II, Presidency, Government, Warfare

First images of the Earth taken from space.

Tags: Space Exploration, Photography, Cold War

James Martin invents the ejector seat, inspired by the death of his friend and test pilot Captain Valentine Baker in an aeroplane crash in 1942.

Tags: Aviation, World War II, Military Technology, Safety

Breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager in Bell X-1.

Tags: Aviation, Aerospace, World War II, Cold War

June 14: Albert II became the first mammal launched into space

Tags: Space Race, Aeronautics, Cold War, Space Exploration

May 2: The first passenger jet flight route opens between London and Johannesburg.

Tags: Aviation, Jet Age, Transportation, Globalization, Travel

October 4: Launch of Sputnik 1 and the beginning of the Space Age.

Tags: Space Race, Cold War, Soviet Union, Scientific Advancement, Space Exploration, Satellite, Geopolitics

November 3: Laika becomes the first animal launched into Earth orbit.

Tags: Space Race, Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Exploration, Scientific Advancement

December 20: First flight of the Boeing 707.

Tags: Aviation, Commercial Aviation, Jet Age, Air Travel, Transportation

The first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, is launched.

Tags: Space Race, Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Exploration, Satellite, Geopolitics

July 29: NASA formed.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Race, Cold War, Scientific Advancement, Astronauts

August 23: Federal Aviation Administration formed.

Tags: Aviation, Transportation, Air Travel, Infrastructure, Safety

October 7: The USSR probe Luna 3 sends back the first ever photos of the far side of the Moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, Cold War, Soviet Union, Moon, Astronomy, Space Race

April 12: Yuri Gagarin, flying the Vostok 1 spacecraft as part of the Vostok program, becomes the first human in space.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Race, Cold War, Soviet Union, Astronautics, Scientific Achievement

Riccardo Giacconi and his team discover the first cosmic x-ray source, Scorpius X-1

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Exploration, Observational Astronomy

July 26: Launch of the first geostationary satellite, Syncom 2.

Tags: Space Race, Telecommunications, Cold War, Space Exploration, Communication

November 28: NASA launches the Mariner 4 space probe from Cape Kennedy toward Mars to take television pictures of that planet in July 1965.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Mars, Space Race, Planetary Science, Cold War, Astronomy

Vela nuclear test detection satellites discover the first gamma-ray burst

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Exploration, Cold War, Particle Physics

September – Zond 5 travels to the Moon with the first lifeforms to reach Earth's satellite

Tags: Space Exploration, Soviet Union, Cold War, Space Race, Moon, Biology, Astronautics, Scientific Advancement

December – Apollo 8 orbits the Moon with three NASA astronauts, becoming the first human spaceflight mission to enter the gravitational influence of a...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Cold War, Space Race, Astronauts, Moon, Human Spaceflight

July 20: Apollo 11 Moon landing, in which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first two humans on the Moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, Cold War, Space Race, NASA, Astronauts, Lunar Exploration

March 2: Concorde 001 flies from the first time, from Toulouse, piloted by André Turcat.

Tags: Aviation, Aerospace, Transportation

January 22: Maiden flight of the Boeing 747.

Tags: Aviation, Commercial Aviation, Transportation, Aerospace, Jet Age, Globalization

April 11: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Moon Landing, Cold War, Space Race, Astronauts

December 18: Establishment of Airbus.

Tags: Aviation, Aerospace, European Union, International Cooperation, Manufacturing, Economic Development

The first space station, Salyut 1, is launched.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Race, Cold War, Soviet Union, Space Station, Astronomy

December 3: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Jupiter, NASA, Planetary Science, Space Race

May 14: The first space station, Skylab, is launched.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Race, Cold War, NASA, Astronauts, Space Station, Scientific Advancement

March 29: First close-up images of Mercury by Mariner 10. The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang is discovered at Xi'an, China.

Tags: Space Exploration, Archaeology, Planetary Science, Qin Dynasty, Astronomy, Cultural Heritage, Celestial Bodies

August 20: Voyager 2 launched by NASA.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Planetary Science, Voyager Program, Astronomy, Space Race, Exploration

June 22: Discovery of Pluto's moon Charon.

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Planetary Science, Kuiper Belt, Solar System, Celestial Bodies, Discovery

November 13: Voyager 1 takes the first close-up pictures of Saturn.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Voyager Program, NASA, Spacecraft

April 12: First orbital flight of the Space Shuttle.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Shuttle Program, Aerospace Engineering, Cold War, Scientific Advancement

The first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle undergoes test flights ahead of full operation in 1982.

Tags: Space Exploration, Aerospace Engineering, NASA, Space Race, Cold War, Orbital Mechanics

Donald C. Backer et al. discover the first millisecond pulsar

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Radio Astronomy, Space Exploration, Cosmology

January 24: First close-up images of the planet Uranus

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Voyager Program, NASA, Solar System, Spacecraft

March: Return of Halley's Comet.

Tags: Astronomy, Comets, Space Exploration, Scientific Observation, Popular Culture

August 25: Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune and its largest moon, Triton.

Tags: Space Exploration, Voyager Program, Planetary Science, Astronomy, Spacecraft, NASA, Solar System

April 24 – May 20: Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Telescopes, NASA, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Race

Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail observe the first pulsar planets (this was the first confirmed discovery of planets outside the Solar System)

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Exoplanets, Planetary Science, Solar System, Space Exploration

September 26: The first mission in Biosphere 2 ends after two years.

Tags: Environmental Science, Ecology, Space Exploration, Sustainability, Research

March 14: Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American to ride into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle (the Soyuz TM-21), lifting off from t...

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronauts, International Cooperation, Cold War Legacy, NASA, Space Race

Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz definitively observe the first extrasolar planet around a main sequence star

Tags: Astronomy, Exoplanets, Planetary Science, Astrophysics, Space Exploration, Observational Astronomy, 20th Century Science

November 20: A Russian Proton rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first segment of the International Space Sta...

Tags: Space Exploration, International Cooperation, Space Station, NASA, Cold War Aftermath, Aerospace

November 2: International Space Station begins operations; its first crew, composed of three men, arrives.

Tags: Space Exploration, Space Station, International Cooperation, Scientific Advancement, NASA, Astronauts, Orbital Mechanics

March 14: SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk.

Tags: Space Exploration, Aerospace, Commercial Space, Entrepreneurship

Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world.

Tags: Aviation, Exploration

Final flight of the SST (Supersonic Transport) Concorde.

Tags: Aviation, Transportation, Air Travel, Economic Impact

Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars.

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, Robotics, NASA, Planetary Science, Exploration

First surface images of Saturn's moon Titan.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Exploration

July 29: Michael E. Brown confirms the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.

Tags: Astronomy, Planetary Science, Solar System, Space Exploration, Kuiper Belt

The first solar sail based spacecraft, IKAROS.

Tags: Space Exploration, Spacecraft, Aerospace Engineering, Astronomy

NASA launches spacecraft to visit Jupiter and Mars.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Jupiter, Spacecraft

Space Shuttle program is officially ended.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Aerospace Engineering, Cold War Legacy, Human Spaceflight, International Collaboration

The US rover, Curiosity, takes a selfie on Mars and finds evidence of an ancient streambed of water on the Red Planet.

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, Planetary Science, Astronomy, Robotics, NASA, Geology

October 14: Skydiver Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle.

Tags: Aviation, Space Exploration, Physics

November 12: The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae probe becomes the first to successfully land on a comet.

Tags: Space Exploration, Comets, Astronomy, Spacecraft

February: Euromaidan protest in Ukraine sparks a revolution and the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, leading to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the w...

Tags: Revolution, Geopolitics, Annexation, Warfare, Cold War Legacy, Nationalism, Vladimir Putin

Liquid water is found on Mars.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Mars, Astrobiology, NASA

First close-up images of Ceres and Pluto.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, Solar System, NASA, Dwarf Planets

July 4: Juno enters orbit around Jupiter

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Planetary Science, NASA, Jupiter, Spacecraft

October 28: 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object, is identified.

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Discovery, Solar System, Cosmology

Gravitational wave signal GW170817 is observed by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. This is the first instance of a gravitational wave event observed to h...

Tags: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves, LIGO, Scientific Breakthrough, Cosmology, Space Exploration

October 18: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conduct the first all-female spacewalk outside of the ISS.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Astronauts, Gender Equality

New Horizons takes the first close up image of a classical kuiper belt object.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Kuiper Belt, Planetary Science, Solar System, Spacecraft, NASA

January 3: Chang'e 4 becomes the first object to land on the far side of the Moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, Lunar Exploration, Astronautics, Scientific Achievement, Space Race, Aerospace

July 30: NASA successfully launches its Mars 2020 rover mission to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples for return to Earth.

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, NASA, Astronomy, Planetary Science

October 20: NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on 101955 Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid,...

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Cosmology, Planetary Science, Exploration

December 18: Media outlets report that astronomers have detected a radio signal, BLC1, apparently from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest...

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Astrobiology

China launches Chang'e 5 and becomes the third country after the US and the Soviet Union to return samples of the moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, Lunar Exploration, Astronomy, Space Race

NASA and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) discover about 12 US fl oz (350 ml) of surface water in one of the Moon's largest vi...

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Moon, NASA

May 30: Crewed spaceflight resumes in the United States for the first time since 2011.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Commercial Spaceflight, Space Shuttle Program, Space Station, SpaceX, Human Spaceflight

December 1: The Arecibo Telescope of the Arecibo Observatory collapses, just weeks after the announcement of its planned demolition.

Tags: Astronomy, Radio Astronomy, Space Exploration, Infrastructure

February 18: NASA's Mars 2020 mission (containing the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter drone) lands on Mars at Jezero Crater, after seven m...

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, NASA, Aerospace

June 7: The Juno spacecraft performs its only flyby of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the first flyby of the moon by any spacecraft in over 20 years.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Jupiter, NASA

July 28: The first direct observation of light from behind a black hole is reported, confirming Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Tags: Black Holes, General Relativity, Albert Einstein, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Exploration, Relativity

April 19: Ingenuity becomes the first vehicle to fly in the atmosphere of another planet. Miguel Díaz-Canel becomes First Secretary of the Communist P...

Tags: Space Exploration, Mars, Aviation, Cuban Revolution, Communist Party

July 19: Blue Origin successfully conducts its first human test flight, with a reusable New Shepard rocket delivering four crew members into space inc...

Tags: Space Exploration, Commercial Spaceflight, Jeff Bezos

September 16: Inspiration4, launched by SpaceX, becomes the first all-civilian spaceflight, carrying a four-person crew on a three-day orbit of the Ea...

Tags: Space Exploration, SpaceX, Commercial Spaceflight

May 23: Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich.

Tags: Journalism, Human Rights, Political Repression, Aviation, International Relations, Authoritarianism

March 20: WHL0137-LS "Earendel" imaged by Hubble Space Telescope, the earliest and most distant known star.

Tags: Astronomy, Space Exploration, Stars, Cosmology, Astrophysics, Discovery

July 11: James Webb Space Telescope takes Webb's First Deep Field, oldest and highest resolution image of the universe to date.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Cosmology, Astrophysics, Telescopes

September 26: Double Asteroid Redirection Test demonstrates capabilities on asteroid (65803) Didymos I Dimorphos.

Tags: Space Exploration, Astronomy, Aerospace Engineering, NASA

November 16: NASA launches Artemis 1, the first uncrewed mission of its Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever to reach orbit.

Tags: Space Exploration, NASA, Space Race, Exploration

August 23: ISRO's Chandrayaan 3 lands on the lunar south pole making India the 4th nation to successfully soft land on the Moon.

Tags: Space Exploration, Moon Landing, Space Race, Scientific Achievement

April 20: SpaceX conducts the first full stack test launch of the world's most powerful rocket, Starship.

Tags: Space Exploration, SpaceX, Commercial Space

January 19: JAXA's first lunar probe, SLIM, lands on moon

Tags: Space Exploration, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Moon Landing

February 22: Intuitive Machines lands first private lunar probe, Nova-C, on moon

Tags: Space Exploration, Lunar Exploration, Space Race, Commercial Space, Aerospace, United States of America