The Wright brothers — Wilbur (1867–1912) and Orville (1871–1948) — were American bicycle makers who achieved the first sustained, controlled, powered heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina: Orville's first hop lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet.
Where rivals chased raw engine power, the brothers solved the real problem — control. Their three-axis system of wing-warping, forward elevator and rear rudder let a pilot steer in the air, and it remains the basis of how every airplane flies today.
