1906
MARCH 2 Scientist Robert H. Goddard, jotting down thoughts in his Green Notebook, speculates that atomic energy might one day power spaceships during interplanetary flight.
May 22 Aeronautical pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright finally, after three tries, win their first government – issued patent for their so-called flying machine.
September 30 Over Scarborough, England, an army balloon piloted by Major Henry B. Hersey and Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm wins the first Gordon Bennett Balloon Race by traveling 402 miles from Paris, France.