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Wright brothers: Quick Facts

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Did You Know?

  • The Wright brothers published two local newspapers, the "Evening Item" and the "West Side News".
  • The Apollo 11 crew brought a piece of the Wright aircraft on the first moon landing mission.
  • The Wright brothers flipped a coin to decide who would fly first.

Photos and Videos

Orville and Wilbur Wright
Wilbur Wright
Orville Wright
Wright glider
Wright glider
first flight by Orville Wright, December 17, 1903
Wright flyer, 1905
Orville Wright
Wilbur Wright wearing a flat cap, suit, and tie, looking slightly to the side in a black and white portrait.
Black and white portrait of a light-skinned Orville Wright with a neatly combed hairstyle, a thick mustache, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned tie.
Orville Wright: flight of the first military airplane, 1909
Explore the Franklin Institute, dedicated to Benjamin Franklin and science
Take a historical and architectural tour inside the Wright brothers' wind tunnel on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
See All Videos and Images →
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Joseph-Michel Montgolfier
French aviator
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Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier
French aviator
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Orville Wright
American aviator
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Wilbur Wright
American aviator
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Harold Gatty
Australian-born aviator
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
American aviator
Theodore von Kármán
Theodore von Kármán
American engineer
Richard E. Byrd stands on a ship deck in heavy fur clothing and a leather cap, holding a sundial compass during an Antarctic expedition.
Richard E. Byrd
American explorer
Wally Funk, wearing a red blazer, speaks with hands clasped at the 2022 Michael Collins Trophy presentation at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Wally Funk
American aviator
Portrait of Amelia Earhart smiling, wearing a collared shirt and jacket.
Amelia Earhart
American aviator
Hazel Ying Lee
Hazel Ying Lee
Chinese American pilot
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Russian scientist
Auguste Piccard, 1961
Auguste Piccard
Swiss-Belgian physicist
Fieseler, Gerhard
Gerhard Fieseler
German aviator
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Louise McPhetridge Thaden
American aviator
Edward O'Hare
Edward O’Hare
American aviator and WWII hero
Jacqueline Cochran
Jacqueline Cochran
American pilot
Paul Painlevé.
Paul Painlevé
French prime minister and mathematician
Watch the “Gossamer Albatross” the first human-powered plane crossing the English Channel in 1979
Paul Beattie MacCready
American aeronautical engineer
Glenn Hammond Curtiss.
Glenn Hammond Curtiss
American engineer

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All About The Wright Brothers Quiz
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