How the AEROPLANE WAS INVENTED
Hop aboard the Wright brothers’ ingenious creation and discover the beginning of modern-day aviation
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
DID YOU KNOW? In 1910, Orville Wright took his 82-year-old father on his first and only flight
It was a brisk December morning in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but adrenaline-pumping hearts likely kept the Wright brothers warm as one watched the other take flight in the first successful aeroplane: the Wright Flyer. Until this fateful day, the world’s view of human flight was limited to hot-air balloons and gliders. However, two American men, brothers from Millville, Indiana, swooped in at the start of the 20th century and opened the world’s eyes to the possibility of flight powered by a heavierthan-air flying machine.
Before human flight piqued their interest, the Wright brothers’ first joint venture was a printing business during the mid-1880s. By 1889, Orville and Wilbur started a local newspaper called West Side News, which later became the Evening Item and closed after 78 issues. But during this time, the brothers also turned their business brains to the growing bicycle craze that was sweeping America. In 1892, the Wright Cycle Company was formed to sell bicycles before servicing and manufacturing its own bicycle model, called the Van Cleve, in 1896.