English pioneer aviator Amy Johnson makes a 19-day solo flight in a Gipsy Moth from Croydon (part of London) to Darwin, Australia

Geoffrey De Havilland designs the Tiger Moth, on which nearly all British pilots were trained during World War II

The George Washington Bridge links New York with New Jersey, and is the world's longest suspension bridge with a main span of 3500 feet (1066m)

One of the defining landmarks of Sydney, in Australia, is opened – the single-span steel arch bridge across the city's harbour

US aviator Amelia Earhart lands in Ireland 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland, to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic

The mighty Boulder Dam (renamed Hoover Dam in 1947) is completed on the Colorado River

US industrialist Howard Hughes sets a new speed record of 352 mph, flying a plane designed by himself

The prototype of the Spitfire, designed by Reginald Mitchell, has its first test flight

The Golden Gate Bridge, linking San Francisco and Marin County, is the world's longest suspension bridge with a main span of 4200 feet (1280m)

Rocket engineer Wernher von Braun is appointed director of Germany's weapon research centre at Peenemünde

Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) builds the Burma Road as a supply route

Lord Nuffield donates to Commonwealth hospitals 'iron lungs', built at his Morris Oxford factory,

US designer Igor Sikorsky tests the first practical helicopter, using a rotor on a long tail boom to counter torque

British racing driver Malcolm Campbell sets a new water speed record of 141 mph

The He-178, designed by Hans von Ohain, becomes the first jet engine to fly, with a test flight lasting five minutes

The de Havilland Mosquito, a multi-purpose wooden aeroplane widely used by the RAF in World War II, makes its first flight

The US army invests in a significant new vehicle, placing an order for 16,000 jeeps

A Gloster E.28/39 air frame becomes the first craft to fly with a Whittle jet engine

The German V-2 rocket is successfully tested by Wernher von Braun and his team at Peenemünde

The RAF's first jet, the Gloster Meteor, flies with a Whittle engine

The Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter-bomber flies into combat, introducing the jet era in aerial warfare

Wernher von Braun and his team of scientists are taken to the USA to develop the German V-2 rocket into an intercontinental ballistic missile

The Morris Minor is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes one of Britain's best-selling cars

Prime minister Ben Chifley sees Australia's first mass-produced car, the Holden, roll off the production line

The world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, designed by de Havilland, goes into service with BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation)