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Wilbur and Orville Wright


            Milton Wright, their father, presented a rubberband-powered flying toy to the boys. The toy fascinated them and sparked their lifelong interest in flight, Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor. Neither Wilbur nor Orville finished high school.
             By the time Wilbur was 22 years old, he and Orville (who was 18) opened their own printing office. They recycled broken parts and built the printing press they would use to start their business. A few years later, they became interested in bicycles and decided to switch businesses. In 1893, they opened the Wright Cycle Company, a bicycle sales and repair business in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. By 1896, Wilbur had his mind set on a new idea: flying. Wilbur began by reading everything he could find about the state of human flight. It became his hobby. At the time, several scientists in Europe were testing human gliding machines. By 1899, Wilbur had studied all of the research that was available and decided to request more from the Smithsonian Institution. In a letter dated May 30, 1899, Wilbur asked to receive all available information and also stated his plan to begin a "systematic study of the subject in preparation for actual work.".
             By the following summer, in August, 1900, the Wright Brothers had changed their plans. They decided instead to go to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This empty beach on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean would be windy while also having soft, sandy ground for landing. In October, the brothers flew their "manned kite." They quickly realized that the wind was not strong enough to lift a man. Still, they were able to test the design of the kite and were pleased with their findings. Sadly, the 1900 glider was damaged in a strong gust of wind, so they went home to Dayton with plans to build a new one.
             On July 10, 1901, the brothers returned to Kitty Hawk and set up camp further south at Kill Devil Hills.


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