In 1852, Henri Giffard made the first powered airship flight in France. But it was Count von Zeppelin's rigid airship of 1900 that proved air travel was possible.
Powered aeroplane flight began in 1903 when the Wright Brothers flew their first machine in America. In 1919, a passenger service began between London and Paris and the first regular Atlantic crossings were made in 1937. The jet engine was successfully tried out during the Second World War.
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