On this night in science
The first airplane flight
December 17, 1903
On this day in 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright flew an airplane he'd built with his brother Wilbur. The flight lasted just twelve seconds, but it was the first time a powered airplane had carried a person through the air under control.
Why it mattered
The brothers flew three more times that day, and each flight went farther than the one before. Every airplane since has grown from what they learned.
Wonder together
If you could build a flying machine, what would you make it look like?