17 December 1903 (USA) — First sustained controlled flight in a powered aircraft. On the morning of December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright took turns piloting and monitoring their flying machine in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Orville piloted the first flight that lasted just 12 seconds and 120 feet. On the fourth and final flight of the day, Wilbur traveled 852 feet, remaining airborne for 59 seconds. That morning, the brothers became the first people to demonstrate sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine under the complete control of the pilot. They built their 1903 glider in sections in the back room of their Dayton, Ohio, bicycle shop. That afternoon, the Wright brothers walked the four miles to Kitty Hawk and sent a telegram to their father, Bishop Milton Wright, back home in Dayton, Ohio: “Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas.”

17 December 1928 (England) — British aircraft industry holds dinner at Science Museum, South Kensington, London, commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the invention of the airplane by the Wright brothers.

17 December 1928 (USA) — International delegates attend ceremonies at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, commemorating the first airplane flight ever made, 17 December 1903. Orville Wright, who made it, attend celebration.

17 December 1935 (USA) — The first flight of the Douglas DC-3 took place. As one of the toughest aircraft of all-time, 10,655 were made, with hundreds still flying commercially at the turn of the century.

17 December 1938 (USA) — Rear Admiral William A. Moffett Memorial Trophy awarded Aviation Unit of USS Northhampton. Lt. Robert Goldwaite, USN, Senior Aviator of the ship, receives the trophy on behalf of the personnel.

17 December 1938 (USA) — Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, National Bureau of Standards, delivers second Wright Brothers’ lecture at Columbia University, New York City.

17 December 1947 (USA) — The first flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber took place.

17 December 1969 (USA) — The United States Air Force closes Project Blue Book, its 22-year investigation into sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFO’s.

17 December 1973 (Italy) — Palestinian guerrillas storm a terminal in Rome, Italy, throwing grenades and spraying automatic fire on Pan Am Flight 110 (Boeing 707, N407PA). The resulting flames kill several on the aircraft. The terrorists also hijack a Lufthansa 737 on the ramp, taking it and several Italian hostages on commanded flights to Greece, Syria and finally Kuwait, where the hostages are finally freed and the hijackers given to the custody of the PLO. In the end, 30 people die.

17 December 1994 (Netherlands) — KLM’s last Douglas DC-10 is retired.

17 December 1994 (USA) — The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy sets a national record after taking off with the maximum payload of all time at 920,836 pounds.

17 December 2003 (USA) — Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately designed and manufactured manned aircraft to exceed the speed of sound.