As far back as 1894 Maxim built a giant aeroplane but it was too
cumbersome to be operated.

In America the wonderful work of Professor Langley of the Smithsonian
Institution with his aerodromes attracted worldwide attention. Langley
was the great originator of the science of aerodynamics on this side
of the water. Langley studied from artificial birds which he had
constructed and kept almost constantly before him.

To Langley, Chanute, Herring and Manly, America owes much in the way
of aeronautics before the Wrights entered the field. The Wrights have
given the greatest impetus to modern aviation. They entered the field
in 1900 and immediately achieved greater results than any of their
predecessors. They followed the idea of Lilienthal to a certain extent.
They made gliders in which the aviator had a horizontal position and
they used twice as great a lifting surface as that hitherto employed.
The flights of their first motor machine was made December 17, 1903,
at Kitty Hawk, N.C. In 1904 with a new machine they resumed experiments
at their home near Dayton, O. In September of that year they succeeded
in changing the course from one dead against the wind to a curved path
where cross currents must be encountered, and made many circular
flights. During 1906 they rested for a while from practical flight,
perfecting plans for the future. In the beginning of September, 1908,
Orville Wright made an aeroplane flight of one hour, and a few days
later stayed up one hour and fourteen minutes. Wilbur Wright went to
France and began a series of remarkable flights taking up passengers.
On December 31, of that year, he startled the world by making the
record flight of two hours and nineteen minutes.

It was on Sept. 13, 1906, that Santos-Dumont made the first officially