The title of this special journal issue, “Advances in Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry”, implies that in recent years there has been progress in the subject area. Yet, without an account of what happened in the past, that is a history, you cannot appreciate the rapid and sophisticated advancements that took place in this field during the last ten years. After delving into the history of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), I thought it important to share some of the historical highlights of TOFMS instrumental development as a prelude to the other papers in this special journal issue. The purpose of this essay is to acquaint unfamiliar readers with the history of TOFMS instrumentation and its application to chemical research.