Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Air travel revolutionized the transportation industry, and according to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, the 1920s were the pioneering years of commercial aviation.
The U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission explains that while the first air passengers likely took off in 1913, the first plane designed specifically for travelers was the Lawson C-2. Aeromarine Airways, according to the Commission, operated 15 "airborne limousines" throughout the early 1920s. The planes ran more than 2,000 flights and carried 10,000 passengers over the years.
September 2008 marked 90 years of the U.S. Post Office transporting mail via planes. According to Air & Space magazine, in the early 1920s it took "dogged effort and experimentation, marred by dozens of crashes and 16 fatalities, for the service to fly the mail all the way across the country."
Charles Lindbergh made the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927. The Lindbergh Foundation website says that he only packed "five sandwiches, water, maps and charts, and a limited number of other items deemed absolutely necessary" for the New York to Paris flight.
In June 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly with a team across the Atlantic. According to the official Amelia Earhart website, her flight "made headlines worldwide because three women had died within the year trying to be that first woman."
Floyd Bennett and Richard Byrd are known as the first people to circle the North Pole. However, the U.S. Flight Commission says there is still controversy over their 1926 flight and whether they ever reached the "top of the world" at all.