History+Of+Transportation

1783 was the year of balloons. That was the year that the HOT AIR BALLOON was invented. It was invented by the Montgolfier brothers. The first hot air balloon was made out of a bag called a balon. They made a bigger paper lined silk ballon and they called it the Montgolfiere. Which lifted 6,562 feet into the air. They kept making bigger and larger ballons that carried first animals for a total of eight minutes and then made one that could carry humans.

In 1787 the STEAMBOAT was invented. In 1769 James Watts patented an improved version of the steam engine that ushered in the Industrial Revolution. John Fitch in 1787 made the first successful trial of a forty five foot steamboat on the Delaware River. He continued to build bigger models that could then carry passengers.

In 1903 the Wright brothers took the first successful flight in an AIRCRAFT. They kept making bigger and better models of planes. In 1909 the US Government bought their first airplane from the Wright brothers for 25,000 dollars and they got a bonus of 5,000 dollars because it exceeded 40 mph. In 1981 NASA launched the SPACE SHUTTLE. The shuttle's first mission demonstrated that it could take off vertically and glide to an unpowered airplane like landing. In the later lift offs the first woman was taken into space. That was June 18, 1983. In 1986 the Challenger blew up and killed all 7 memebers. After that incident the Shuttle program stayed grounded for two years. From 1988 throught mid-1998 NASA safely launched 65 shuttle missions.

In 1999 the Honda car company intorduced the first two door HYBRID into mass market in the US. These cars are very fuel effiecient. They decrease emmisions into the air and save people lots of money on gas.