Boeing turns 100: A look back at aviation history
Boeing turned 100 years old on Friday, marking a full century of aerospace innovation.
Today, the company remains one of the largest companies in the global airliner market, with its 7-series passengers planes a common sight in airports around the world. It also makes military planes, including the F-18 Hornet and F-15E Strike Eagle.
To commemorate its birthday, here is a look at some images from the company's long history.
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On March 1, 1919, Bill Boeing (holding the mailbag on right) and Eddie Hubbard flew the first international mail flight from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the Boeing Model C -- the company’s first production plane.
Over the course of 100 years, Boeing has gone from making canvas and wooden wings for biplanes (shown above) to producing the carbon–fiber composite wings of the 787 Dreamliner.
The Boeing 204 flying boat, used extensively over stretches of water in the Pacific Northwest, is shown on September 1937. With accommodations for five passengers, it had a finished mahogany plywood hull, wings made of wood and fabric, and a 400-horsepower Pratt and Whitney Wasp engine -- which allowed it to reach a top speed of 133 miles an hour.
A Boeing Model 247D flies over New York City. Introduced in the 1930s, the all-metal, twin-engine aircraft is considered the first modern passenger plane.
Wellwood E. Beall, the company's chief engineer, in a pilot's seat of one of the new 33-passenger, four-engined Boeing Stratoliner ships on July 12, 1939. The airliner was built for high-altitude flights.
A giant American-made Boeing Flying Fortress coming to a landing on an airfield somewhere in England on August 3, 1941, after making a raid on the German warship Gneisenau. These four-motored, long-distance flying ships played a vital role in the Royal Air Force raids on German-occupied territory in Europe.
The first of 133 new B-50 bomber planes ordered by the U.S. Army Air Force rolled out from the Boeing Aircraft company plant in Seattle, Washington, on June 12, 1947. The plane's high vertical tail is folded to clear factory doors.
The 707 ushered in the era of passenger jet flight. The first one was rolled out in Renton, Washington, in May of 1954.
The new 707 provided a quicker, smoother, and more comfortable flight. Promotional materials featured families to assure passengers of the safety of jet planes.
In 1962, two 707 jets were adapted for use by President John F. Kennedy, earning the designation “Air Force One” when the president was on board. Boeing 7-series airplanes continue to be the official aircraft of the U.S. president.
Stewardesses, from fifteen airlines with orders for Boeing 737 jets, pose in front of an aircraft in a hangar in Seattle on January 18, 1967. At the christening ceremony, Boeing announced sales to two other airlines. The 17 stewardesses all smashed bottles of champagne over the wing of the new Boeing 737.
Boeing President Bill Allen and Pan Am CEO Juan Trippe (right) celebrate the launch of the Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” in 1968. The longtime friends sealed a deal between the two companies with a handshake while on a fishing trip.
The space shuttle Orbiter Enterprise "earns its wings" as it clears its 747 carrier aircraft on August 12, 1977, to begin the first free flight of the spacecraft. Astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton piloted the Enterprise during its maiden flight.
Standing before Boeing's original building, which was restored for an aircraft museum at Seattle's Boeing Field, company retiree and project volunteer Carl Gustafson, left, discusses plans with project manager Howard Lovering on October 30, 1977.
Bao Peide, left, vice minister of the Civil Aviation General Administration of China, and Pieter Bouw, president of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, unveil a Boeing B747-400 aircraft named "City of Beijing" at the international airport in Beijing, China, on June 30, 1996. The ceremony was held after the plane completed a flight from Amsterdam to Beijing to mark the opening of KLM's new non-stop service between the two cities.
The Everett, Washington, factory where the 747 is built is still the biggest building in the world by volume.
The 787 Dreamliner is the company's newest passenger aircraft.
Lili Sams is a Photo Editor at Mashable, where she works to tell compelling stories utilizing the visual medium of photography. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism .
