Orville Wright

Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871, Orville Wright grew up in a family that encouraged curiosity and hands-on problem solving. He and his brother Wilbur first ran a printing business and then a bicycle shop, experiences that sharpened the practical skills they would later bring to aeronautics.

Working closely together, the brothers studied earlier flight experiments, built their own wind tunnel, and tested gliders before achieving the first controlled, sustained powered flight in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville made the first flight that day, and the brothers went on to refine their aircraft into a practical flying machine.

After Wilbur's death in 1912, Orville became one of the best-known elder statesmen of early aviation. He continued to be associated with the field for the rest of his life and died in 1948, having lived long enough to see flight develop from a daring experiment into a world-changing technology.