December 17, 2016 all-day

Show your appreciation for the current airline system and the freedom to travel to all parts of the planet by celebrating Wright Brothers Day. The brothers Orville and Wilbur, tenacious American inventors, recorded the first manned, powered flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They were not the first to build experimental aircraft, and news of fatal glider crashes involving other aviation trailblazers influenced the direction of their research and development. The Wright brothers focused their efforts on pilot-activated flight-stabilizing controls. Their discoveries form the basis of modern flight. In 1903 when aviation was in its infancy, sustained flight was measured in seconds and piloting was a developing skill, and although early flight lacked sophistication, it threw open the doors for the evolution of the aviation industry, and set the stage for the global travel system that we take for granted today.