The Boeing 737 Max flew from the company's Renton, Washington, factory for a 2 1/2-hour maiden flight before landing at Boeing Field near Seattle. The first completed 737 Max 8 airliner rolled out of the assembly facility in Renton last month and was presented at a ceremony in front of several thousand Boeing employees.

The prototype took off for its inaugural flight with Boeing's flight-operations vice president and chief test pilot, Craig Bomben, and Capt. Ed Wilson at the controls. Over the years, the 737 family has become the best-selling airliner in the history of commercial aviation, with more than 13,000 aircraft sold since 1965. It is arguably Boeing's bread-and-butter model.

"We think we have a terrific product here," Keith Leverkuhn, the Boeing 737 Max program general manager, said following the flight. "We think it's going to be the preferred aircraft in the market."

Here's a closer look at the history of the Boeing 737 and the fourth-generation Max: