Few people stop to think when they board a commercial flight that it has been barely more than a century since two bicycle makers named Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first 12-second powered flight in 1903. Since then, aviation technology has grown at an exponential pace, with the first propeller-driven planes giving way to jets, which have now been surpassed by planes that can fly into space. Here are 10 technological developments and events that have defined modern military and civilian aviation.
