The Boeing Company
Germany → USA
Aerospace & Defence
Summary
Boeing was founded in 1916 in Seattle by William E. Boeing, born in 1881 in Detroit to Wilhelm Böing, a German immigrant from Hagen who had arrived in the United States in 1868 and made his fortune in the Midwest timber industry. William inherited that fortune at eight when his father died. After studying at Yale, he moved to Seattle to manage timber interests, took a passenger flight in 1914 at age 33, and resolved to build a better aeroplane himself. The first Boeing Model 1, the B&W Seaplane, flew the next year. Over the following century, the company built America’s commercial aviation industry, supplied U.S. military aircraft in two world wars, and developed the 707, 747, and the modern long-haul travel that followed.
European Contribution
German timber-industry capital and engineering discipline, transmitted from father to son.
American Impact
Built the American commercial aviation industry and the aircraft on which post-war global air travel rests.
Timeline Highlights
- 1868 Wilhelm Böing emigrates from Hagen
- 1881 William E. Boeing born in Detroit
- 1916 Pacific Aero Products Co. founded in Seattle
- 1958 First flight of the 707
- 1969 First flight of the 747