As anyone who has watched the TV show PanAm knows, the 1960s were the golden age of air travel. Flying became accessible to the middle class, and took off in popularity. At the same time, a demand appeared for bigger cargo jets able to handle the containers in which goods were now being shipped. Aircraft makers took notice of both trends, and began work on a design for a larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft to replace the Boeing 707. The upshot was the Boeing 747, the iconic aircraft of American air travel.

On this day, January 12, in 1970, the Boeing 747 made its maiden commercial flight from New York to London’s Heathrow airport, ushering in a new era of air travel and cargo shipping all over the world.

By Boeing’s own admission, the 747 should not have lasted this long. Though built to carry passsengers at first, its long-term use was thought to be container transport. Boeing thought within four years their plane would be succeeded by supersonic models, and thus built their 747 easily convertible from passenger to cargo. To this day the hull of the 747 measures just wide enough to fit two-by-two stacks of standard size shipping containers.