One more big anniversary: manned, powered flight

[mahatmakanejeeves]

#OnThisDay in 1903: the Wright Brothers' first flight. Orville flew first for 120 ft and 12 seconds. Wilbur flew 852 ft and stayed in the air for 59 seconds. @WrightBrosNPS

Link to tweet

My grandmother was born in 1895. She was around for the birth of aviation, and she lived long enough for man to walk on the moon and for the first several launches of the space shuttle.

I know, there are some challenges to the Wright Brothers as the first. I'm going with what's generally accepted.

I read a book several years back about the history of early aviation -- Glenn Curtiss, the Wright Brothers. I can't recall its name. I'll look it up.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Wilber's was longer, always a point of contention between them...

His FLIGHT, that is!

All kidding aside, it is still a remarkable thing to ponder what took place between 1903 and, a mere 66 years later, 1969.

To put that into perspective, that would be like 1952 until now. Not so long a time at all...

[Rhiannon12866]

2. This is an important anniversary - they paved the way for so much of modern life

And it's also true of my grandmother - she was born in 1900. The changes she saw in her life are mind boggling. They barely had cars when she was young, let alone planes, yet she drove across the country and flew to other countries in the world during her lifetime. And she embraced change, was always interested in learning something new. She became a teacher, told me that was one of her few choices at the time, she said if she was able to makes these choices now, she'd become an environmentalist!