image: GERTH ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS

Trade shows not only launch individual products but also entire industries. In 1910, California hosted the country's first noteworthy aviation show near Los Angeles. Over 10 days, 250,000 looked on in wonder while celebrity airmen such as Glenn Curtiss and Bill Boeing soared over the landscape on death-defying airships. Even the Wright brothers were there — though mostly to keep an eye out for patent infringers. The exhibition was a virtual runway for the aerospace industry to take off in Southern California, with companies from Boeing Co. to SpaceX, now billion-dollar fixtures, there.