Today in History
August 19
1939: President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed National Aviation Day in honor of Orville Wright's birthday.
1871: Orville Wright, one of the famous Wright Brothers, was born in Dayton, Ohio. Orville and Wilbur, his older brother, owned a bicycle shop in Dayton. Part of owning a shop was repairing bicycles so it was here that their ideas for how to build a vehicle to fly took shape. After years of building models and engines, on December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (Outer Banks), Orville flew their first airplane (heavier-than-air and powered) for 12 seconds at a speed of 34 miles per hour in the air and 6 mph on the ground. They chose Kitty Hawk, located on the Atlantic Ocean, because of the winds. The Wright Brothers National Memorial is located there. In Dayton, visitors can tour many Wright Brothers sites including the bicycle shop as part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (National Park Service, NPS).
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