Timeline
| 1778 | May 26 | British Royal Navy Captain James Cook explores Cook Inlet. |
|---|---|---|
| 1867 | - | United States purchases Alaska from Russia |
| 1903 | Dec 17 | Wright Brothers - First Flight |
| 1905 | Dec 5 | Roald Amundsen - Telegraph from Eagle, Alaska announcing first expedition across the Northwest Passage |
| 1907 | Jul 23 | President Theodore Roosevelt establishes the Chugach National Forest by proclamation |
| 1908 | Oct 1 | Ford Model T starts production |
| 1911 | Dec 14 | Roald Amundsen - South Pole |
| 1912 | - | Congress establishes the Territory of Alaska with an elected legislature and creates the Alaska Railroad Commission |
| 1912 | Feb 14 | Arizona Statehood - 48th State |
| 1912 | Apr 14 | Sinking of the RMS Titanic |
| 1912 | Nov 2 | Hap Arnold - Pilot for the first radio telegraph message sent from an aircraft to a receiver on the ground |
| 1913 | Jun 7 | First ascent of McKinley. Hudson Stuck... |
| 1913 | Jul 3 | First flight in Alaska at Fairbanks |
| 1914 | Jul 28 | Start of World War I |
| 1914 | - | Government bought the Alaska Northern Railroad and moved its headquarters to “Ship Creek” |
| 1914 | - | Grover Loening managed the Wright Company factory in Dayton, Ohio for Orville Wright in 1913 and 1914. |
| 1915 | - | “Tent City” develops on the north shore of Ship Creek with 2,000 people. Post office assigns the name of Anchorage rather than "Ship Creek" |
| 1916 | - | Lawrance A-3 - 450 produced |
| 1918 | Oct | Train service between Anchorage and Seward |
| 1918 | Nov 11 | End of World War 1 |
| 1919 | May | NC-4 - First plane across the Atlantic - 19 Days Designed by Glenn Curtis. The journey took 23 days, with six stops along the way. A trail of 53 “station ships” across the Atlantic gave the aircraft points to navigate by. |
| 1919 | Jun 15 | British aviators Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in a Vickers Vimy IV twin-engined bomber powered by two Rolls-Royce Eagle 360 hp engines. |
| 1919 | Oct | Wright-Martin was dissolved and reorganized as Wright Aeronautical with Frederick Renstschler as vice president and general manager. |
| 1920 | Jan 17 | Prohibition Starts |
| 1920 | July 15 | “Black Wolf Squadron” leaves Fort Mitchell in New York for Nome |
| 1920 | Oct 20 | “Black Wolf Squadron” returns to New York from Nome |
| 1920 | Nov 23 | Anchorage was incorporated |
| 1921 | Charles Lawrance delivers experimental air-cooled radial engine model J-1 to Navy | |
| 1922 | May 24 | Charles Hammontree pilots the first flight over Anchorage in a 4:00 a.m. test flight, taking off in a Boeing hydroplane from the “old dock” (Anchorage Daily Times, May 23-24, 1922). Boeing seaplane shipped to Anchorage, assembled, crashed on mud flats |
| 1923 | May 15 | Merger of Wright Aeronautical and Lawrance Aero Engine Company. Charles Lawrance was retained as a vice president of Wright. |
| 1923 | May 25 | 9th Avenue Park Strip cleared for an airstrip and a nine-hole golf course. |
| 1923 | Jul 15 | Warren G. Harding drives golden spike to open Alaska Railroad |
| 1923 | Aug 2 | Calvin Coolidge takes office |
| 1924 | Feb 21 | Ben Eielson - First Airmail postal contract in Alaska to deliver mail between Fairbanks and McGrath |
| 1924 | Apr 6 | Douglas World Cruisers leave Seattle |
| 1924 | Apr 30 | Douglas World Cruisers - Seattle crashes |
| 1924 | May 17 | KFQD signs on the air as Alaska’s first radio station |
| 1924 | July 4 | Noel Wien - Aerobatic show over Anchorage air/park strip |
| 1924 | July 6 | Noel Wien - First flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks |
| 1924 | Sep 1 | Rentschler resigned as president of Wright. |
| 1924 | Sep 28 | Douglas World Cruisers landed at Vancouver Barracks, Vancouver, Washington. |
| 1925 | - | Noel Wien - Received his formal pilot’s certificate, No. 39, signed by Orville Wright |
| 1925 | June | Noel Wien - First commercial flight from Fairbanks to Nome |
| 1925 | July | Frederick Rentschler, president of Wright Aeronautical leaves to form Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Charles Lawrance becomes president of Wright. Rentschler, George J. Mead, Andy Willgoos, Charles Marks, and John Borrup left Wright. |
| 1925 | Aug 3 | Russel Merrill and Roy Davis flight from Juneau to Seward, the first civilian flight across the Gulf of Alaska |
| 1925 | Dec 29 | Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp first run |
| 1925 | - | Wright J-5-Whirlwind enters production |
| 1926 | March 31 | Wilkins and Eielson make the first flight from Fairbanks to Barrow |
| 1926 | Apr 6 | Varney Air Lines: first contract air mail flight in the U.S.; first scheduled airline service in the country with flights between Pasco, Washington, and Elko, Nevada, via Boise. |
| 1926 | May 9 | Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F-VII Tri-motor with Wright J-4 engines |
| 1926 | May 13 | Wilkins was on the coast at Point Barrow watching Amundsen, Ellsworth and Nobile pass, in the Airship "Norge" |
| 1926 | May 14 | Roald Amundsen - first verified flight over the North Pole. N-1 Airship "Norge" lands at Teller |
| 1926 | June 6 | The first Alaskan Aerial Survey Expedition started. |
| 1926 | Sep24 | Alaskan Aerial Survey Expedition ends for the year. |
| 1926 | Oct | Stearman Aircraft Corporation formed in Venice, California |
| 1926 | Dec 29 | Alaska Air Transport, Inc., Anchorage’s first airline, is organized. Russel Merrill - chief pilot. |
| 1927 | - | Noel Wien formed Wien Alaska Airways |
| 1927 | May 20 | Charles Lindbergh - Flight across the Atlantic |
| 1927 | May 26 | Ford Model T ends production |
| 1927 | June 7 | Noel Wien first flight from Fairbanks to Nome |
| 1927 | June 8 | Wright J-5 Engine on the AAM Stearman was manufactured |
| 1927 | Oct 20 | Ford Model "A" begins production 4,186 produced, 99 of the Commercial Chassis |
| 1927 | Nov 8 | Russel Merrill discovers a pass through the Alaska Range to the Kuskokwim. It is named Merrill Pass in his honor |
| 1928 | Apr 11 | AAM Stearman C2B NC5415 built in Wichita, Kansas |
| 1928 | Apr 15 | Eielson and Wilkins were the first to fly the 2,200-mile route over the polar cap from Barrow, Alaska to Spitzbergen, Norway. |
| 1928 | Jun 11 | AAM Stearman C2B NC5415 sold to Arctic Prospecting & Developing Company, Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska |
| 1928 | Jun 18 | Roald Amundsen - while taking part in a rescue mission for the Airship Italia, the plane he was in disappeared. |
| 1928 | Sep | Graf Zepplin launched. |
| 1928 | Dec 28 | Fairbanks News-Miner reported the arrival of the Wein Airways Hamilton Metalplane NC10002 |
| 1928 | First Antarctic expedition, 1928–1930 - (Wikipedia) Richard E. Byrd, (Wikipedia) Norman Vaughan, with a Fairchild 71 | |
| 1929 | - | NC374V Keystone/Loening |
| 1929 | - | Bob Reeve - Arrived in South America where he mastered mountain flying and the Fairchild 71 became one of his favored aircraft |
| 1929 | - | Boeing merged with Pratt & Whitney to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) which then set about buying, in the space of just 28 months, Pacific Air Transport, Stout Air Services, Varney Air Lines and National Air Transport |
| 1929 | Mar 2 | AAM Travel Air 6000 N8159 built. The company president at that time was Clyde Cessna ,the general manager was Walter A. Beech and the design engineer was Lloyd Stearman. |
| 1929 | Mar 4 | Herbert Hoover takes office |
| 1929 | Mar | Noel Wien flew Metalplane NC10002 on the 1st flight from North America to Asia |
| 1929 | May 16 | First Academy Awards for “Wings” |
| 1929 | Jul 5 | Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company together with 11 other Wright and Curtiss affiliated companies merged to become the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. |
| 1929 | Aug | Aviation Field (Merrill) opens |
| 1929 | Aug 29 | Graf Zepplin - Around the world flight: 21 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes |
| 1929 | Sep 14 | AAM Stearman C2B NC5415 Sold to Alaska Airways Inc. Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska, Ben Eielson Vice President |
| 1929 | Sep 16 | Russ Merrill departs Lake Spenard to take supplies to a mine near Nyac, he never returns |
| 1929 | Oct 29 | Black Tuesday - Stock Market crash - beginning of Great Depression |
| 1929 | Nov 9 | Ben Eielson and Metalplane NC10002 disappears in Siberia |
| 1929 | Nov 28 | Richard E. Byrd flies over the South Pole |
| 1929 | Dec | 9,215 total pilots |
| 1930 | Anchorage population 2,277 | |
| 1930 | Jan 26 | Joe Crosson finds Ben Eielson and Metalplane NC10002 |
| 1930 | Apr 2 | Merrill Field Named |
| 1930 | Aug 13 | Matt Nieminen and his mechanic Cecil Higgins, made the first flight over Denali in a Fairchild 71. |
| 1930 | Nov 5 | 3rd Academy Awards - Wallace Beery - nominated for Best Actor for “The Big House”. “With Byrd at the South Pole” was the first documentary to win any Oscar and the only one to win Best Cinematography. |
| 1931 | Mar 7 | Joe Crosson - Delivered Diptheria serum to Barrow from Fairbanks in a Wein open cockpit Stearman |
| 1931 | Mar 13 | Joe Crosson - Delivered more Diptheria serum to Barrow from Fairbanks in a Fairchild 71 |
| 1931 | Mar 28 | UATC formed United Air Lines, Inc. |
| 1931 | Jul 1 | Wiley Post and Harold Gatty - Lockheed Vega “Winnie Mae” around the world flight in 8 days, 15 hours and 15 minutes. |
| 1932 | - | Linious “Mac” McGee begins McGee Airways that eventually becomes Alaska Airlines in 1944 |
| 1932 | Jun 23 | Irene Ryan was certified as the first female to solo in Alaska |
| 1932 | Jul 27 | Mary Barrows soloed and was first woman licensed in Alaska |
| 1932 | Sep 25 | Anchorage Municipal Airport is renamed Merrill Field |
| 1932 | Nov 18 | 5th Academy Awards - Wallace Beery - won Best Actor for “The Champ”. |
| 1932 | Joe Crosson - Made the first landing on Mt. McKinley | |
| 1933 | Plexiglas brought to market | |
| 1933 | Mar 4 | Franklin D. Roosevelt takes office |
| 1933 | Jul 22 | Wiley Post - Lockheed Vega “Winnie Mae” solo around the world flight (Stops in Flat and Fairbanks) in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes. |
| 1933 | Dec 5 | Prohibition Ends |
| 1934 | Jun 12 | Air Mail Act - dissolved the holding companies that brought together airlines and aircraft manufacturers |
| 1934 | Jul | Hap Arnold - Ten Martin B-10 bombers arrive |
| 1934 | Sept 26 | United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) breaks up into United Air Lines Transportation Company, United Aircraft Manufacturing Company, and Boeing Aircraft Company. |
| 1935 | - | Becky Sharp - First film to use the newly developed three-strip Technicolor production |
| 1935 | - | Noel Wien - First commerical
flight with passengers from Seattle to Fairbanks. First to fly across the Bering Straight |
| 1935 | Aug 15 | Wiley Post and Will Rogers crash |
| 1935 | Aug | Joe Crosson - Flew to Barrow with Rob Gleason to retrieve the bodies of Wiley Post and Will Rogers |
| 1939 | Mar 20 | Metalplane NC7791 bought by Noel Wien for Wein Alaska Airlines in Los Angeles |
| 1939 | Apr 29 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs executive order withdrawing a 50,000 acre tract of land for a future military base north of Anchorage |
| 1939 | Aug 1 | 1929 Travelair 6000B NC8159 sold to Mudhole Smith’s Cordova Air Service |
| 1939 | Sep 1 | World War II starts |
| 1941 | - | United States implemented 525-line television |
| 1941 | June 27 | Elmendorf North/South runway opens |
| 1941 | Dec 7 | Pearl Harbor Attack |
| 1942 | June 7 | Japanese occupy Attu and Kiska |
| 1942 | July 15 | Lost Squadron - two B-17s and six P-38s land on Greenland icecap |
| 1942 | Nov 20 | “Holing Through Ceremony” for the completion of the Whittier Tunnel |
| 1943 | May 11-30 | Battle of Attu |
| 1943 | July 28 | Japanese secretly evacuated remaining garrison from Kiska |
| 1945 | Mar 4 | Harry S. Truman takes office |
| 1945 | May 8 | V.E. Day |
| 1945 | Sep 2 | V.J. Day - World War II ends |
| 1946 | Jun 27 | Keystone/Loening Sold to Jay Hammond |
| 1946 | Sept | Keystone/Loening Chena River Fairbanks |
| 1946 | Oct 6 | Keystone/Loening Crashed |
| 1947 | Sep 30 | AAM PBY made an emergency landing on Dago Lake |
| 1951 | - | Bradford Washburn - First ascent of the West Butress - Denali |
| 1951 | Oct 19 | Completion of 128-mile Seward Highway between Anchorage and Seward |
| 1951 | Dec 10 | Anchorage International opens |
| 1954 | - | CAA ranks Anchorage International as the 4th busiest |
| 1959 | Jan 3 | Alaska Statehood - 49th State |
| 1959 | - | Nike Site Summit opens along with Site Point (located near ANC) and Site Bay (at Goose Bay) |
| 1964 | Mar 27 | Good Friday Earthquake - 9.2 |
| 1978 | Oct 28 | AAM Stearman N5415 - Restored and first flight since 1939 |
| 1978 | - | Alaska Historical Aircraft Society, Anchorage, AK |
| 1984 | Sep 30 | PBY lifted from Dago Lake to King Salmon |
| 1985 | May | U.S. Historical Aircraft Preservation Museum, Anchorage, AK |
| 1987 | - | PBY transported from King Salmon to Anchorage |
| 1992 | Jul 15 | Glacier Girl recovery starts 50 years after landing |
| 2002 | Oct 26 | Glacier Girl returns to the air |