Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright made history December 17, 1903, with the first powered and sustained flight. The historic moment took place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright made history December 17, 1903, with the first powered and sustained flight. The historic moment took place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
National Archives
Wilbur, left, and Orville are shown in this undated file photo. The brothers had a bicycle shop that eventually funded their experiments with aeronautics.
Wilbur, left, and Orville are shown in this undated file photo. The brothers had a bicycle shop that eventually funded their experiments with aeronautics.
AP Images
Wilbur, left, and Orville fly a glider like a kite in 1901. They tested gliders for a few years before their historic flight in Kitty Hawk.
Wilbur, left, and Orville fly a glider like a kite in 1901. They tested gliders for a few years before their historic flight in Kitty Hawk.
Library of Congress
The brothers work at a shed in Kitty Hawk. From left are Octave Chanute, Orville Wright, Edward C. Huffaker and Wilbur Wright.
The brothers work at a shed in Kitty Hawk. From left are Octave Chanute, Orville Wright, Edward C. Huffaker and Wilbur Wright.
Library of Congress
The Wrights conduct a gliding experiment in 1901.
The Wrights conduct a gliding experiment in 1901.
Library of Congress
"The desire to fly," Orville Wright said, "is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air."
"The desire to fly," Orville Wright said, "is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air."
AP Photo
Wilbur Wright flies in Pau, France, in 1908. That year, the Wrights signed a contract with the U.S. Army to provide them with an aircraft that could hold a pilot and passenger while sustaining an hourlong speed of 40 mph.
Wilbur Wright flies in Pau, France, in 1908. That year, the Wrights signed a contract with the U.S. Army to provide them with an aircraft that could hold a pilot and passenger while sustaining an hourlong speed of 40 mph.
Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images
A Wright family portrait is taken upon Wilbur's return from his first official flight demonstration in France in 1908.
A Wright family portrait is taken upon Wilbur's return from his first official flight demonstration in France in 1908.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In the early 1910s, Wilbur Wright and balloonist Ernest Zens sit in the Wright Model A Flyer at Camp d'Auvours, France.
In the early 1910s, Wilbur Wright and balloonist Ernest Zens sit in the Wright Model A Flyer at Camp d'Auvours, France.
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Orville flies at Kitty Hawk in 1911.
Orville flies at Kitty Hawk in 1911.
Popperfoto/Getty Images
Orville, left, receives a Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Aeronautics from W.F. Durand in Washington in 1930.
Orville, left, receives a Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Aeronautics from W.F. Durand in Washington in 1930.
New York Times/Getty Images