August 19, 1871

On December 17, 1903 the Wright brothers made the world’s first flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air machine that cost about $1000 to build. With Orville at the controls and Wilbur on the ground, the plane flew 120 feet in twelve seconds. Although man had dreamt of flying for centuries, it took these two unschooled young men (bicycle shopkeepers by trade) to finally lift us off the ground.

How We Made the First Flight
“This flight lasted only twelve seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started.” This narrative written by Orville Wright, and illustrated with photographs from the National Archives, tells the first-person story of the Wright brothers’ first four flights. It is filled with amusing anecdotes such as the fact that it was a coin toss that determined that Wilbur would be the first to attempt to fly on December 14, 1903.

[Continue reading Wright Brothers]

More Surfing the Calendar