Today, with hindsight being 20/20, we know how the Boeing 747 revolutionized air travel. But that was anything but a sure thing back when it was still on the drawing board in the mid-1960s.

If not already evident, the Boeing 747-100 was the first generation 747 that Boeing delivered to its initial set of customers, which included Pan Am, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Kalitta Air.

Boeing and the Justice Department on Wednesday asked a U.S. judge to approve an agreement that allows the company to avoid prosecution despite objections from relatives of some of the 346 people ...