Here Is a Photo of the First-ever Powered Flight by Orville Wright in 1903
Wright Brothers: Here is a photo of the first-ever powered flight by Orville Wright in 1903. Made in 1903, it is the kind of image that turns a date in a history book into something you can actually see.
Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, powered airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. The first flight lasted twelve seconds and covered 120 feet. A member of the local lifesaving crew triggered the camera shutter, producing one of the most consequential photographs in the history of technology.
Looking at experimental machines from the past, it is easy to laugh at what failed and forget how strange the successful inventions looked at first. To the people in the frame, this was the cutting edge, and the photograph preserves that optimism intact.
