March 3, 1915—A rider to the Naval Appropriations Act established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Committee was instituted to “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.”

April 2, 1915—President Woodrow Wilson appointed the first 12 members of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Orville Wright was a member from 1920 to 1948.

1916–1917—NACA called the first joint meeting of the aircraft industry and Government agencies. This conference was instrumental in the creation of the Manufacturers Aircraft Association and in the recommendation for the formation of the Aircraft Production Board for WWI aircraft production.

July 17, 1917—Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, the site for NACA’s first experimental aeronautical facility, was founded. These facilities and their successors contributed to the advancement of aeronautics and space flight for the indefinite future.

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