The Birth of Aviation

The Birth of Aviation is an Ohio historical marker in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County · 110 E. Monument Avenue, Dayton, OH, 45402 -- Engineers Club of Dayton

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Side A: In 1899, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton built a kite to test a revolutionary flight control system, and in 1900, built their first airplane (glider). With promising results, the Wrights built man-carrying gliders and airplanes to refine their ideas. Wind tunnel experiments led to accurate calculations of lift and drag. In 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they made the first sustained, controlled, powered flight in history, lasting 12 seconds. By 1905, the Wright brothers had developed the first practical airplane and the skills to pilot it. The U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased a Wright flyer, the first practical military aircraft, in 1909. Through public demonstrations beginning in 1908, the Wright brothers showed the world the future of aviation. Side B: Same

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Example

under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: Ohio Historical Markers program, Ohio History Connection (Remarkable Ohio)

More markers nearby

Charles F. Ketteringsame spot
Josephine and Hermene Schwarzunder 1 mi
First Baptist Church of Dayton Bicentennialunder 1 mi
Dayton Woman’s Clubunder 1 mi

On the National Register nearby

Engineers Club of Dayton100 ft
Memorial Hall300 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.