Boeing history chronology

PRE-1910 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010–
1965 Hughes Helicopters secures its first MK 11 cannon production contract for use in the MK 4 Gun Pod. Over
1,000 MK 4 Gun Pods, incorporating the MK 11 gun, will be built for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps use in Vietnam.
The U.S. Army orders the first of nearly 1,500 Hughes Helicopters OH-6As, which become the Army’s new light
observation helicopters.
Jan. 12:
Feb. 25:
March 15:
March 23:
April 5:
April 6:
June 3:
July 7:
July 17:
July 17:
Aug. 28:
Dec. 8:
Dec. 15:
The last of 820 Boeing KC-135 aerial tankers is delivered to the Air Force.
The Douglas DC-9 twinjet airliner makes its first flight.
The first Boeing-built Saturn S-1C first-stage rocket booster rolls out at Michoud, La., near New Orleans, to be
barged to Cape Kennedy.
First flight of the McDonnell-built Gemini spacecraft with two astronauts, Gus Grissom and John Young.
Boeing receives the largest commercial order by an airline to that time: United Air Lines orders 66 jetliners with options
for 39 more and leasing of another 25.
Using a Douglas Delta rocket, NASA launches Hughes Space & Communications Intelsat 1 (Early Bird), the first satellite
for commercial communications.
Astronaut Ed White, during the four-day Gemini 4 mission, becomes the first American to walk in space. McDonnell
had built the Gemini space capsule.
McDonnell delivers its 1,000th F-4 Phantom, an F-4B for the Navy.
In their first encounter with enemy aircraft, McDonnell Navy F-4B fighters shoot down two North Vietnamese MiG-17s.
It is the first time the Phantom is engaged in air-to-air combat.
North American’s XB-70 Valkyrie No. 2 makes its first flight.
Boeing loses contracts for a manned orbiting laboratory and, a month later, for the C-5A heavy transport.
The Douglas DC-9 makes its first in-service airline flight for Delta Air Lines.
McDonnell-built Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 perform world’s first rendezvous in space.
Boeing history chronology
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