Orville Wright

Died: January 30, 1948
Born: August 19, 1871

Inventor. The younger of the two brothers who invented the
airplane and started the aerial age, Orville outlived his
brother Wilbur by 36 years. Their goal was to invent a
device that would not only fly but take off and land.
Starting with a kite, then gliders, and finally they added
a propeller and an engine and the "Wright Flyer" was
created. After the successful four flights at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, they returned to Dayton and continued their
experiments at Huffman Prairie. They were awarded a patent
in 1906 and started trying to attract potential customers
with demonstration flights in Europe and elsewhere. With
orders in hand including a contract to build planes for the
United States Army, Wilbur and Orville started the Wright
Company and began filling orders, but upon the early death
of Wilbur, Orville sold the business in 1912 and retired.