Boeing engineers originally designed the iconic 747 jumbo jet with a distinctive front hump because they were entirely convinced that supersonic travel would render it obsolete as a passenger plane within a few years.

A closer look

Boeing engineers originally designed the iconic 747 jumbo jet with a distinctive front hump because they were entirely convinced that supersonic travel would render it obsolete as a passenger plane within a few years. During the 1960s, everyone assumed planes like the Concorde were the future of commercial flight. To ensure the 747 would not become a massive, expensive paperweight, they designed the cockpit on a second deck so the nose could open up for easy freight loading. Supersonic passenger travel turned out to be a loud, insanely expensive failure, while the 747 became the undisputed queen of the skies for over half a century. It is endlessly amusing that one of the most successful commercial aircraft in human history only looks the way it does because its creators had zero faith in its long-term viability as a human transport vehicle and planned for it to be a glorified flying FedEx truck