Timeline of women in aviation and space history

Women have contributed to the advancement of the air and space industry since 1784. Here is a list of their most significant breakthroughs at world level.
1784 – First woman to fly – Marie Élisabeth Thible, France

1798 – First woman to pilot an aircraft solo – Jeanne Labrosse, France
1799 – First woman to parachute jump – Jeanne Labrosse, France
1903 – First woman to pilot a motorized aircraft solo – Aida de Acosta, United States of America
1910 – First woman to earn a pilot license – Raymonde de Laroche, France (view first 10)

1911 – First woman to win an air race – Hélène Dutrieu, Belgium/France
1911 – First woman to teach her child to fly – Hilda Hewlett, England
1912 – First woman to patent an aircraft design – Amelie Hedwig Beese, Germany
1912 – First woman to pilot a seaplane – Hélène Dutrieu, Belgium/France
1912 – First woman to fly over the English Channel – Harriet Quimby, United States of America
1913 – First commissioned female airmail pilot – Katherine Stinson, United States of America
1914 – First woman to fly an aerobatic maneuver (loop) – Lidia Zvereva, Russia
1915 – First woman to fly in combat – Marie Marvingt, France
1921 – First black female to obtain a pilot license – Bessie Coleman, United States of America
1927 – First female airline pilot – Marga von Etzdorf, Germany
1929 – First female movie stunt pilot – Florence Lowe Barnes, United States of America
1930 – First female pilots to refuel a plane in flight – Elinor Smith & Evelyn Trout, United States of America
1934 – First woman to flight instruct at a military flight academy – Marina Mikhailovna Raskova, Russia
1935 – First certificated flight nurse – Marie Marvingt, France
1937 – First woman to fly a fighter aircraft in combat – Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey
1937 – First woman to pilot a helicopter – Hanna Reitsch, Germany
1943 – First and only women to receive the Ace Pilot designation – Lidya Litvyak & Katya Budanova, Russia
1944 – First woman to pilot a jet– Hanna Reitsch, Germany
1948 – First female agricultural pilot – Ada Rogato, Brazil
1953 – First woman to break the sound barrier – Jacqueline Cochran, United States of America
1955 – First woman to hold a test pilot license – Jacqueline Auriol, France
1963 – First woman to fly in space – Valentina Tereshkova, Russia

1964 – First woman to fly solo around the world – Geraldine (Jerrie) Mock, United States of America
1993 – First woman to fly a supersonic airline jet – Barbara Harmer, England
2009 – First woman to lead a national demonstration aerobatic team – Virginie Guyot, France

More women firsts in the air and space industry at www.CentennialOfWomenPilots.com