This document provides a summary of the history and development of aviation from the 18th century to present day. It discusses several key events and innovations: - The Montgolfier brothers conducted the first manned hot air balloon flights in the late 1700s. The first free flight with human passengers followed. - In the 1800s, scientists like Cayley conducted experiments with gliders and model aircraft. Lilienthal made some of the first controlled hang glider flights. - The Wright brothers achieved the first sustained, controlled, powered and manned heavier-than-air flight in 1903 in North Carolina. - Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel in 1909. -