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PHOTO TIME LINE: AIR
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Photo: Montgolfier balloon
Photo: Otto Lillenthal with one of his glider aircraft
Photo: a bi-plane designed by Wilbur and Orville Wright
Photo: Charles Lindbergh's monoplane
Photo: Chuck Yeager
Photo: Breitling Orbiter III balloon
Photo: Chuck Yeager
1947: Breaking the Sound Barrier
On October 14, 1947, World War II flying ace Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager becomes the first person to break the sound barrier. Flying a Bell X-1 rocket-powered test aircraft launched from beneath a B-29, Yeager reaches Mach 1.06 (700 miles an hour; 1,126 kilometers an hour). The record-breaking flight makes Yeager famous and proves that an aircraft can exceed the speed of sound without disintegrating or becoming unmaneuverable.

Photograph by Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images          
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Learn More About Exploration
Title: Air Photo: Concorde
What year did the Concorde airliner first go into service? How long did the first nonstop around-the-world flight take? Test your air exploration knowledge with this online quiz.
Quiz: Air

Title: Land Photo: Ancient Chinese Compass
Who is considered the world’s greatest living explorer? Find out in the online quiz.
Find out when the first compass was invented. See the highlights of human land exploration in this photo time line.
Quiz: Land Time Line: Land

Title: Sea Photo: A ship sailing past an island
How deep is the deepest part of the ocean? Test your ocean exploration IQ with the online quiz. Who sailed first, the Vikings or the Phoenicians? Check out the highlights of human sea exploration in this photo time line.
Quiz: Sea Time Line: Sea

 
 
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Introducing the
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Photo: Philips Norelco arcitec razor
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