Boeing history chronology

PRE-1910 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010–
1958 Jan. 31: North American’s first jet trainer, the T-2 Buckeye, makes its first flight.
Feb. 28:
May:
May 15:
May 27:
May 30:
June:
The first Douglas Thor-Agena rocket launches Discoverer 1, the first photo reconnaissance satellite
and the first satellite to enter polar orbit.
First zero-length launch tests use a North American F-100D Super Sabre at Edwards Air Force Base; it
uses its own engine and a 130,000-lb. thrust engine; it accelerates to 272 mph in less than four seconds.
The U.S. Air Force orders three Boeing 707-120s for use by the president and other high-ranking officials.
Designated VC-137A, they will be called Air Force One when the president is aboard. The following year,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower will be the first American president to travel on the VC-137A.
The McDonnell F4H (F-4) naval jet fighter makes its first flight.
The Douglas DC-8 makes its first flight. It is the first of the DC line to have jet engines.
North American’s Rocketdyne begins preliminary design of the F-1 rocket engine.
Aug. 15: Pan American World Airways takes delivery of the country’s first commercial jet airliner, a Boeing 707-120,
four months ahead of schedule. It starts service in October on a trans-Atlantic route.
Aug. 31:
October:
Oct. 10:
Oct. 11:
The North Amercian A3J/A-5 Vigilante carrier-based bomber makes its first flight.
Douglas delivers the first production Thor IRBM to the U.S. Air Force.
The Air Force selects Boeing to assemble and test the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
A Douglas Thor-Able rocket, consisting of a Thor first stage and a Vanguard second stage, launches NASA’s
Pioneer I spacecraft 79,173 miles into space, the farthest distance yet for an Earth-launched object.
Boeing history chronology
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