Boeing 377 in 1950 and the first order for the 707 in 1955, Boeing was shut out of the commercial aircraft market. In the mid-1950s technology had advanced significantly, which gave Boeing the opportunity to develop and manufacture new products. One of the first was the guided short-range missile used to intercept enemy aircraft. By that time the Cold War had become a fact of life, and Boeing used its short-range missile technology to develop and build an intercontinental missile. In 1958, Boeing began delivery of its 707, the United States' first commercial jet airliner, in response to the British De
William Boeing 74, just three days before his 75th birthday, and a year before the first successful commercial jet airliner, the Boeing 707, would take its first flight. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Seattle Yacht Club, having had a heart attack aboard his yacht in Puget Sound, Washington. His ashes were scattered off the coast of British Columbia, where he spent much of his time sailing the "Taconite", his yacht. He was posthumously inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, in 1966. In 1984, Boeing was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame