When William E. Boeing purchased Heath’s shipyard in Seattle in March 1910, the Yale-educated former timber industry professional likely had no idea that a little more than 100 years later, the Boeing Company would be generating more than $93 billion in annual revenue and would have produced more than 748 commercial aircraft, 180 military aircraft, and five satellites. World War I created a need for training aircraft, and Boeing fulfilled an order for 52 seaplanes for the U.S. Navy, launching the company into the market.