Boeing Celebrates Its Centennial Birthday Today

Happy birthday, Boeing, you look great! Today marks the 100th year of the company, first founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing, who had a vision for building airplanes that would forever change the concept of air travel. Today, Boeing is the biggest aviation industry exporter in the US, as it manufactures commercial, defense and space technology, among other products — flying would not be the same without the company's innovations.

To help them celebrate, we've listed some noteworthy Boeing highlights from the past 100 years:

• 747 First Flight: February 9, 1969; introduced with Pan American World Airways on January 22, 1970
• 767 First Flight: September 26, 1981; introduced with United Airlines on September 8, 1982
• 777 First Flight: June 12, 1994; introduced with United Airlines on June 7, 1995
• 787 First Flight: December 15, 2009; introduced with All Nippon Airways on October 26, 2011
• Southwest Airlines took delivery of Boeing's 5,000th 737 on February 13, 2006
• The 777X launched in November 2013, with production scheduled to begin in 2017 and planned to enter service by 2020
• First flight of the 737 MAX on January 29, 2016
• Through June 2016, there have been 1,522 deliveries of the 747 (1,543 ordered)
• Through June 2016, there have been 1,412 deliveries of the 777 (1,893 ordered)
• Through June 2016, there have been 431 deliveries of the 787 (1,155 ordered)
• JAL has taken delivery of the most 747s (its largest order was for 34 in September 1987)
• Emirates has ordered the most 777s (its largest order was for 150 in July 2014)
• ANA has ordered the most 787s (its largest order was for 44 in July 2004)

This birthday is so big, Boeing's direct competitor even sent the company a special message:

Congratulations, Boeing, and here's to another 100 years!

What's your favorite Boeing product? Let us know, below.

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