Drones feel like a very new concept that took off just a few years ago, but in fact, they’ve been around for decades. Just maybe not in the form that we’re familiar with today. Even as little as over a decade ago, the idea of anyone controlling their own flying camera would sound like something straight out of science fiction.
However, the concept of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones isn’t quite as new as many people think. Let’s take a quick dive into the history of drones to see when they were invented and how they evolved into the drones we know today.
Early Drone Technology
The very first (documented, at least) drone was invented in the year 1896 by Alfred Nobel, the person famous for inventing dynamite. In 1896, Alfred launched a rocket with a camera attached to it. In his patent, he called it “An Improved Mode of Obtaining Photographic Maps and Earth or Ground Measurements”. Although the first aerial photos using this method were only taken in 1897, after Alfred’s death.
Some may argue that, technically, the first unmanned aerial vehicle ever invented was the hot air balloon, which was invented in 1783. While that is true, hot air balloons aren’t exactly related to drones as such. So the closest, and oldest, relative would be the rocket camera invented by Alfred Nobel.
From there, it took another couple of decades before the first “modern drone” – in the sense that we know it – would be invented in 1935. Known as the De Havilland DH.82B Queen Bee aircraft, it was developed by the UK’s Royal Air Force as a way to train pilots for engaging enemy fighters in combat. Which resulted in a large radio-controlled drone that they used for target practice.
This drone model was later copied by the US military when Admiral William Harrison Standley, who had seen the Queen Bee at work in the UK brought the knowledge back to the states and was charged with creating a similar concept. He has been quoted with calling his model a “drone” in deference to the original Queen Bee, and is the first known person to call a UAV a drone.
The Commercial Drones We Know Today
Modern drones have come a very long way since that first UAV invented by the UK Royal Air Forces. In the 100 years since, we had the first radio-controlled plane invented by an actor called Reginald Denny in 1941. Who subsequently created a company that built and sold these planes to the US military. As well as drones used by the Israeli military to win the Battle of Jezzine against Syrian forces in 1982, establishing their legitimacy as tools in war.
From there we had military organizations in the US, Israel, and the UK among others ramping up their efforts to create UAVs for various applications. It wasn’t until 2006 that regular civilians were first allowed to operate drones, which at the time was authorized to help with relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina hit the US.
And, well, the rest is history.
