On the cold morning of 17 December 1903, on the sands of Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright lay at the controls of the Wright Flyer, a biplane that he and his brother Wilbur, bicycle makers from Dayton, Ohio, had built, and flew 37 metres in 12 seconds, the first powered, controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air machine. Three more flights that day, the longest by Wilbur at 59 seconds and 260 metres. Their key idea was three-axis control, with wing warping, a rudder and elevator. Within a decade, aeroplanes were used in war, and in 1919 crossed the Atlantic.
Before and after
- 31 October 1903Construction of Hampden Park
- 1 November 1903Death of Theodor Mommsen
- 7 November 1903Birth of Konrad Lorenz
- 17 December 1903First flight of Flyer I
- 17 December 1903The Wright brothers make the first powered flight
- 28 December 1903Birth of John von Neumann
- 1904Founding of Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- c. 1904Birth of Umm Kulthum
- 1904Construction of Hungarian Parliament Building
More in Science & technology
- 1774Discovery of manganese
- 1791Discovery of titanium
- 1797Discovery of chromium
- 1811Discovery of iodine
- 6 March 1869Periodic table
- 1894Discovery of argon
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.