It was this week in 1903 when a couple of bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio flew the first airplane near Nags Head, NC. The Wright Brothers were two of my first heros, and as a child, I had the chance to run in the sand dunes at Kill Devil Hill where they flew. They chose the Outer Banks of North Carolina for the constant wind, and the abundance of sand to crash in.
Ironically, I visited their bicycle shop, though it is no longer in Ohio. It is actually in Detroit, Michigan. Henry Ford bought it and moved it to Greenfield Village...
Wilbur and Orville looked at things a different way, and used what they knew, the bicycle, to solve one of the greatest puzzles of mankind: self powered flight.
This is a pretty good site where you can learn some more about them.
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