Wilbur and Orville Wright were two brothers from Dayton Ohio who are known for the first successful controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
For the two years that followed, the two of them worked on the machine to create the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although they were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, with countless examples from Hiram Maxim's steam-powered testbeds to Otto Lilienthal's gliders, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible. In fact, the very key to the Wright brothers' success is that their competitors focused on lift and power to make their aircraft ascend while trusting the aircraft would be inherently stable. The Wright brothers on the other hand focused on control with the idea that there is no point getting to the air if you can't be confident that you can reliably control the vehicle once you do that.
What many people do not realize is how fast aeronautic innovation was in the past century. While Wilbur died in 1912, Orville died in 1948 — which means he lived to see the first war where planes were used
, the first air-to-air battles, first turbojet planes and the aircraft used to destroy two cities, and died two years after a plane successfully broke the sound barrier.
The Wright Brothers in popular culture:
Film
- The Wright brothers were portrayed by the Wilson brothers (Luke and Owen) in the 2004 version of Around the World in Eighty Days.
Live-Action TV
- Not actually seen, but sometimes referred to in Star Trek in a Famous, Famous, Fictional way alongside other pioneers of aviation and innovation like Neil Armstrong, Elon Musk, and the fictional Zefram Cochrane.
- The titular spaceship in The Orville is implicitly named for Orville Wright.
Web Original
- Epic Rap Battles of History had them square off against the Mario Brothers.
Western Animation
- I Am Weasel: An episode reveals that the plane wasn't invented by the Wright Brothers, it was invented by The Wrong Brothers. The first plane we know was invented by Baboon Wrong, while Weasel Wrong invented all kinds of advanced aircraft (but unfortunately forgot to invent fuel for them). The Wright Brothers were accidentally credited with the invention because Orville Wright ended up in Baboon's plane during a race and got all the attention.
- This Is America, Charlie Brown: The brothers appear in "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk", where Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty and Marcie (and Linus's cousin Dolly) are present for their iconic 1903 flight (with some Artistic License – History, as they only fly twice that day rather than four times, and set the plane down hard enough to damage it both times rather than just on the last flight), and are portrayed as Nice Guys who not only easily forgive Charlie Brown for accidentally wrecking one of their kites (and are more concerned about his well-being than any damage to the kite) that he'd borrowed without asking but repair the bicycle he'd previously crashed as well.
- Time Squad: In the episode "If It's Wright, It's Wrong", the Wright Brothers have gotten sidetracked with a subpar stuntshow rather than flight, despite having drawn up plans for the first plane but seemingly forgotten all about it. They complete their iconic first flight after Tuddrussel accidentally destroys their tight rope act while they're using the prototype plane as a balancing pole.
- Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum: The brothers appear in an episode where they teach Xavier and Yadina about mistakes helping you learn.
