Did you know? A quick look at 100 years of aviation and space exploration: December 17, 1903: The Wright Flyer, piloted by Orville Wright, becomes airborne for 12 seconds and travels 121 feet over Kitty Hawk, N.C., as the first manned powered flight. May 22, 1906: The U.S. government issues Orville and Wilbur Wright a patent on their flying machine after turning down two earlier submissions. Nov. 13, 1907: French inventor Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter. The flight lasts 20 seconds, hovering …showed first 75 words of 420 total…

…showed last 75 words of 420 total…space and the first person to orbit Earth. Feb. 20, 1962: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth. July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. Jan. 21, 1976: The Concorde, the first commercial supersonic jet, takes off. April 12, 1981: NASA launches the space shuttle Columbia. It is the first shuttle to fly into orbit. Dec. 17, 2003: The 100th anniversary of flight. There are approximately 250 airlines, more than 19,000 airports and 55,000 general aviation pilots today in the USA.