To Conquer the Air (Magill’s Literary Annual 2004)
At a glance:
- Author: James Tobin
- First Published: 2003
- Type of Work: Biography and history
- Time of Work: 1899-1948
- Setting: Dayton, Ohio; Fort Myer, Virginia; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Le Mans, France
- Principal Characters: Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, Katharine Wright, Milton Wright, Samuel Pierpont Langley, Glenn Hammond Curtiss
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
- Subjects: Virginia, New York, United States or Americans, France or French people, Twentieth century, Science or scientists, Ohio, Brothers, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Flight, Heroes or heroism, Airplanes or jets, Aviation or aviators, Inventions or inventors, Technology, Mechanics
- Locales: Virginia, France, New York, Washington, D.C., Dayton, OH, Kitty Hawk, NC
Perhaps the easiest question to answer in the history of technology concerns who invented the airplane. Virtually any schoolchild will state that it was Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and his brother Orville (1871-1948). Most Americans also know that the brothers first flew their new machine in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This is more than just an idle recitation of historical facts, for the Wright brothers have become synonymous with the great American myth of the self-made man: the belief that, through industry, an independent man can achieve fame and wealth. In short, they are...
[The entire page is 1822 words long]
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