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The Wright brothers believed that their fascination with flight began when their father brought home a toy helicopter when they were children.
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Milton Wright, the brothers' father, was an itinerant minister.
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Neither of the Wright brothers attended formal engineering training.
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Orville won a coin toss with Wilbur, which is why he was the first brother to fly.
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Their father made them promise to never fly together. He didn't want to lose both sons in an accident. They only flew together once, on May 25th, 1910, after their father made an exception. After successfully landing that flight, Orville took his father up. It was their father's first and only flight. He enjoyed it.
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Their first flight occurred on Dec. 17th, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The airplane itself was created in Dayton, Ohio. The airplane was damaged by a gust of wind after its fourth flight that day. It never flew again. Orville was 32 and Wilbur was 36 when the first flight occurred.
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The Wright Flyer has a wingspan of 40.3 feet. The engine weighed 82kg. The total weight of the flyer was 605 pounds.
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Orville was in an airplane accident in 1908 which resulted in the death of Thomas Selfridge, an Army Signal Corps Lieutenant. Orville survived but was badly hurt and suffered a back injury that plagued him the rest of his life.
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After many years of refusing to donate the Wright Flyer to the Smithsonian, Orville finally agreed and almost 10 years after he died it arrived at the Smithsonian.
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Part of the Wright Flyer has been to the moon. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon in 1969, took a piece with him on his historic flight.
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The Wright brothers are responsible for laying down aircraft's fundamental principles of design, still relevant today.
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The Wright Company made a fortune manufacturing airplanes.
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The Wright brothers are considered to be the fathers of flight.
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The Wright brothers studied birds to help them design the airplane.
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Wilbur Wright died at the age of 45 with typhoid. He lived from 1867 to 1912.
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Orville Wright died at the age of 77 of a heart attack. He lived from 1871 to 1948.
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Orville sold the Wright Company and retired only three years after his brother died from typhoid fever in 1912.
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