Supersonic airline research in Europe began in 1956 with British and French governments signing an international treaty for the joint design, development and manufacture of a supersonic airliner. In 1967, the first prototype was rolled out at Toulouse, France. On June 28, 1972, British Airways ordered five Concorde aircrafts.
BA's first commercial supersonic flight flew from London Heathrow to Bahrain on January 21, 1976. On May 24, 1976 the aircraft made its first transatlantic crossing to Washington. On November 22 that year, the first BA Concorde flew to New York's JFK Airport.
The average flight time between London and New York was three hours and 20 minutes though in February 1996, a Concorde made the same crossing in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.
A Boeing 747 averages about eight hours for the same journey.
Travelling west, the five-hour time difference between the two regions means the Concorde effectively arrives before it has taken off, travelling 'faster than the sun'!