A Legacy of Progress: GE Aerospace Celebrates America’s Spirit of Innovation at 250

Benjamin Franklin, one of America's great inventors, lived by a belief in "continual growth and progress." It's a value that's shaped the country he founded with other visionaries in 1776, the fledgling nation being one of the greatest innovations of its time. More than a century later, that same inspiration drove Thomas Edison to realize some impressive inventions of his own, which led to the founding of General Electric in 1892.

Now, as we prepare to celebrate America's 250th birthday, GE Aerospace is proud to support several initiatives that honor American ingenuity in aviation and inspire the next generation, including:

• On the National Mall in Washington, D.C., visitors to the Great American State Fair will get the chance to see the GE9X - the largest and most powerful commercial engine ever built. Next to the engine, an immersive experience titled "A Window into the Future" will give visitors a window-seat view to learn about some of GE Aerospace's engines from the past, present, and future - which you can watch here:
  
  

• This builds on GE Aerospace's $1 million commitment to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit, nonpartisan preservation organization, and its National Mall Gateway, a groundbreaking digital learning platform that brings to life the memorials, monuments, and history of this beloved space so it may further inspire the future of American leadership.
  
• Beyond Washington, D.C., GE Aerospace is celebrating in local communities in Ohio and Massachusetts - home to the company's largest employee populations in the U.S. GE Aerospace is partnering with Ohio 250 to provide free access to history museums across the state for fourth graders and their families to help young learners connect with the stories that shaped America. And in Massachusetts, GE Aerospace is partnering with MA250 to sponsor veteran families from Lynn and the surrounding area in the state's Boston Pops July 4 celebration.
  

• Embodying the company's long-standing culture of service, GE Aerospace will contribute all of its U.S.-based volunteer project hours to America Gives, a national service initiative led by America 250 and one of the largest coordinated volunteer efforts in U.S. history.

Honoring the Contributions of GE Aerospace

As GE Aerospace joins the country in celebrating the countless innovations Americans have brought to the world, here's a short list of the inventions from GE and GE Aerospace that are woven into the nation's story.

1879: The First Commercially Viable Incandescent Light Bulb

In 1879, Edison demonstrated an incandescent light bulb that would help light up the nation. His innovative design, featuring improved carbon filaments and vacuum technologies, produced bulbs that burned hours longer than earlier models and could be produced at scale. To power lights across New York City, he developed one of the first large-scale electrical distribution systems, in lower Manhattan, helping to lay the foundation for the modern electric grid.

1896 and 1913: GE Scientists Advance X-ray Technology to Transform Healthcare

After German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895, GE innovators helped transform the technology into devices that made medical imaging practical. In 1896, Elihu Thomson, GE chief engineer, demonstrated the use of stereoscopic X-rays for diagnosing bone fractures and locating foreign objects in the body. In 1913, at the General Electric Research Lab in Schenectady, New York, physicist William Coolidge used ductile tungsten, a material he developed to create longer-lasting light bulb filaments, to create the Coolidge X-ray tube. More reliable and easier to use than earlier designs, it became the standard for X-ray imaging equipment throughout the 20th century.

1918: Sanford Moss's Turbosupercharger Enables High-Altitude Flight

When the U.S. entered World War I, the military's airplanes faced limitations: As they climbed to higher altitudes, their engines grew more and more sluggish. The solution - developed by GE scientist Sanford Moss at the Army's request - was the turbosupercharger. Attached to engines, the device compressed incoming air so engines could retain power at record-breaking altitudes. Famously tested in a 1918 flight near Pikes Peak, Colorado, the turbosupercharger paved the way to high-altitude flight for both military and commercial planes and introduced air-compression concepts that are still used in modern aviation.

1942: The GE I-A - America's First Jet Engine

In 1941, as the U.S. prepared to enter World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps picked GE's Lynn, Massachusetts, plant to build America's first jet engine, commercializing a design developed in England by Royal Air Force Officer Frank Whittle. The Hush-Hush Boys, as the GE engineers on the top-secret project were known, soon delivered a prototype called the I-A, and on April 18, 1942, they successfully ran the engine. Six months later, in October 1942, the I-A powered America's first military jet aircraft, the single-seat Bell XP-59A Airacomet. America's Jet Age had begun.

1978: The T700 Turboshaft Engine Marks a New Era

When the U.S. Army needed a next-generation helicopter engine in the 1970s, the T700 turboshaft delivered, setting new standards for performance in the world's toughest environments. Lighter, more durable, and more technologically advanced than rotorcraft engines before it, the T700 was built to perform at high altitudes, in extreme heat, and in harsh, dusty environs. With a modular design that simplified field maintenance, it boosted troop readiness as well. Since GE delivered its first T700 to power Sikorsky U-60 Black Hawk helicopters in 1978, the engine has proven its mettle with more than 100 million flight hours. It continues to serve as the heart of medium-lift helicopter fleets throughout the U.S. military.

1984: GE's F110 Engine Selected to Power Future U.S. Fighter Jets

In the so-called Great Engine War of the early 1980s, the U.S. Department of Defense challenged GE Aerospace to compete in designing a more reliable, high-performance engine for its F-14, F-15, and new F-16 fighter jets. The winning powerplant, GE's F110 low-bypass afterburning turbofan, marked a major advance in fighter engine performance and reliability. Now celebrating more than 40 years of continuous production, along with a combat-proven track record, the F110 powers some of the country's most advanced fighter jets, including the F-15 Eagle, the F-15X Eagle II, and the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

1995: GE90 Engine Enters Service with Pioneering Carbon-Fiber Composite Fan Blades

The GE90 high-bypass turbofan engine was groundbreaking when it entered service in November 1995. Designed for the Boeing 777, it was then the world's most powerful commercial jet engine, delivering up to 127,900 pounds of thrust. But the technology behind that achievement was the real game changer. The GE90 was the first commercial turbofan to enter service with carbon-fiber composite fan blades - significantly lighter and every bit as durable as traditional titanium blades. By reducing engine weight and improving efficiency, the pioneering technology helped improve fuel economy, reduce carbon emissions, and deliver exceptional reliability and performance.

2013: GE9X Chosen as Exclusive Engine for Boeing's 777X Program

With this announcement at the 2013 Dubai Air Show, the future of long-haul commercial aviation came sharply into focus. Certified in 2020, the GE9X is the world's largest and most powerful commercial aircraft engine, pushing turbofan technology to new limits. With a high-bypass, 134-inch front diameter fan and a lightweight, durable core (thanks to ceramic matrix composites and 3D-printed components), the GE9X achieves up to 134,300 pounds of thrust - with lower emissions and a 10% increase in fuel efficiency. The GE9X is expected to enter service in 2027.

2026: Unison Supplies Ignition Systems for NASA's Artemis II Lunar Mission

NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, was an out-of-this-world success - and ignition systems designed and produced by teams at Unison, a GE Aerospace company, lit the core- and upper-stage rockets that sent it into space on April 1, 2026. Ten days later, when the Orion space capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, its four-person crew had traveled to a point 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than any humans before them. Unison's ignition components will help launch the Artemis III mission, planned for 2027.