One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University

The aircraft, a Curtiss E two-seater (Signal Corps No. 8), soared over
Pearl Harbor. Established in July, the school operated only about a year.
c. November 30: Phil Rader and Dean Ivan Lamb, flying for opposing sides
in the Mexican Revolution, engaged in the first aerial combat, firing
pistol shots at one another over Naca, Mexico.
1914
1913–14
January 1: Tony Jannus inaugurated America’s first regularly scheduled airline
when he flew passengers between Saint Petersburg and Tampa,
Florida, in a Benoist flying boat.
January 15: The Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego issued an order
prescribing the first safety regulations, which required aviators to wear
helmets and coats.
January 31: The Navy established its first air station at Pensacola, Florida.
February 24: An Army investigative board at the Signal Corps Aviation
School at San Diego recommended discontinuance of pusher-type
airplanes, noting the large number of accidents and deaths in them.
In a crash, a rear-mounted engine would often break loose and fall on
the pilot. This recommendation threatened to condemn the Army’s
Wright airplanes, all of which were pusher types.
May 6: A Curtiss AH–3 hydroairplane, flown by Lt. P. N. L. Bellinger and Lt.
R. C. Saufley of the Navy in a reconnaissance mission over Mexican
positions near Vera Cruz, became the first U.S. airplane hit by hostile
ground fire.
June 24: The Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego received its first
Curtiss J, Signal Corps No. 29. Features of this airplane were later combined
with those of the Curtiss N, received on December 11, to create
the JN–2 trainer.
July 7: The U.S. government issued a patent to Dr. Robert H. Goddard for
a multistage rocket design. On July 14, the government issued another
patent to Goddard for a liquid-fueled rocket design. These designs
laid the foundation for future spaceflights.
July 18: Congress passed a law creating an Aviation Section of the Army Signal
Corps, which replaced the Aeronautical Division. Lt. Col. Samuel
Reber, who had served as the last commander of the division, became
the first commander of the Aviation Section, which consisted of only
19 officers and 101 enlisted men.
July 28: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting off World War I. On
behalf of Serbia, Russia mobilized for war with Austria-Hungary, and
11