Wright brothers

The Wright brothers solved controlled powered flight, but gliders, engines, wind tunnels, and earlier aviation pioneers all mattered.

How Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved controlled powered flight on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk — and how their patent war nearly strangled the industry they created.

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. In 2024, airlines carried about 4.7 billion passengers. Here is how the engineering got from one to the other.