history of gas turbines:

• 60: Hero's Engine (aeolipile) - apparently Hero's steam engine was taken to be no more than a toy, and thus its full potential not realized for centuries.
• 1500: The "Chimney Jack" was drawn by Leonardo da Vinci which was turning a roasting spit. Hot air from a fire rose through a series of fans which connect and turn the roasting spit.
• 1629: Jets of steam rotated a turbine that then rotated driven machinery allowed a stamping mill to be developed by Giovanni Branca.
• 1678: Ferdinand Verbeist built a model carriage relying on a steam jet for power.
• 1791: A patent was given to John Barber, an Englishman, for the first true gas turbine. His invention had most of the elements present in the modern day gas turbines. The turbine was designed to power a horseless carriage.
• 1872: The first true gas turbine engine was designed by Dr F. Stolze, but the engine never ran under its own power.
• 1897: A steam turbine for propelling a ship was patented by Sir Charles Parsons. This principle of propulsion is still of some use.
• 1903: A Norwegian, Ægidius Elling, was able to build the first gas turbine that was able to produce more power than needed to run its own components, which was considered an achievement in a time when knowledge about aerodynamics was limited. Using rotary compressors and turbines it produced 11 hp (massive for those days). His work was later used by Sir Frank Whittle.
• 1914: The first application for a gas turbine engine was filed by Charles Curtis.
• 1918: One of the leading gas turbine manufacturers of today, General Electric, started their gas turbine division.
• 1920. The then current gas flow through passages was developed by Dr A. A. Griffith to a turbine theory with gas flow past airfoils.
• 1930. Sir Frank Whittle patented the design for a gas turbine for jet propulsion. His work on gas propulsion relied on the work from all those who had previously worked in the same field and he has himself stated that his invention would be hard to achieve without the works of Ægidius Elling. The first successful use of his engine was in April 1937.
• 1934. Raúl Pateras de Pescara patented the free-piston engine as a gas generator for gas turbines.
• 1936. Hans von Ohain and Max Hahn in Germany developed their own patented engine design at the same time that Sir Frank Whittle was developing his design in England.