Who invented airplane?

It is hard to believe that the airplane was invented just hundred years back and today it has become part and parcel of the human life. In the late 1800s Orville and Wilbur Wright were the men who dreamt of inventing the airplane. In 1900 they tested their first glider at Kitty Hawk. For the next two years the brothers plied from Kitty Hawk to their home in Dayton, Ohio. These test drives were a great success. The first successful flight was launched on December 17, 1903 by Wright Brothers. Wright Brothers received a patent for their air machine on May 22, 1906. Later the design was modified as the time demanded.

Some interesting facts:

1. Many historians believe that Wright Brothers only designed the gliding machine but the airplane was invented by a Brazilian living in France, named Alberto Santos Dumont who flew a proper fixed airplane in 1906.

2. An airplane named “Eole” was flown by Clement Ader of France, which flew up to the height of 12” from the ground for a distance of 50 meters in 1890. By 1892 the same flew to the height of 2 feet and covered a distance of 200 meters.

3. The first plane invented by the Wright Brothers recorded a height of 10 feet, traveled about 120 feet and was in space for 12 seconds.

4. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912 just six years after the invention, without enjoying much fruits of his creativity. Orville died in 1948 at the age of 77.