On this day, December the 17th, in the year of 1903, the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, successfully tested the world’s first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

After centuries of research on whether sustained flight was possible, the Wright brothers’ design succeeded. Consisting of four separate flights, the most successful lasting for 59 seconds and going a distance of 852 feet (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) (National Park Service) (Library of Congress) (Britannica).

Today, flights are taken on a daily basis by millions of people everyday, revolutionizing the world’s means of travel. 

To read more daily facts and tidbits, see the Barron Perspectives “On this Day Archives” webpage.