-
Orville Write born
Orville Write was born to Reverend Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner Wright in Dayton, Ohio. -
Inspiration
Upon his return from a church business trip, Bishop Milton Wright brings home a toy Penaud helicopter. The toy inspires Wilbur and Orville's first interest in flight. -
Bicycle Shop Opened
The two open up a bicycle shop until 1907 that later helps pay for their inventions. -
Attended World Columbian Exposition
The two brothers attended the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and while there, the Aeronautical exhibit draws their attention. -
Period: to
Orville Ill w/ Typhoid Fever
Orville Wright got seriously sick with Typhoid Fever. -
Renewed Inspiration
Otto Lilienthal, German engineer and aeronautical pioneer, dies from injuries suffered in a crash while testing his latest single-surface glider. The tragedy renews the Wright brothers' interest in Lilienthal and the problem of human flight. -
Period: to
Kites and Tests
Brothers build and Wilbur flies a biplane kite in order to test the "wing-warping" method of controlling a flying machine. This experiment encourages the Wrights to proceed with constructing a flying machine with a pilot. -
Experiments Begin!
Wrights begin their experiments, flying their glider as a kite and as a man-carrying glider. About a dozen free flights are made although total time in the air is only about two minutes. They stay until October 23. -
First Flight Failure
Wilbur makes the first, but unsuccessful, attempt to fly a powered machine from slope of Big Kill Devil Hill. Machine stalls after 31/2 seconds in the air and lands 105 feet below. -
Long Flight
Wilbur makes the longest flight of the year: 24 1/5 miles in 39 minutes, 23 4/5 seconds, more than twenty-nine times around the field, at an average speed of thirty-eight miles per hour.