Merry Christmas 2015

Ride On!

This Date in Bicycle History

From www.history.com: "Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful  flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier than air aircraft.  Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven bi-plane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.

Wilbur and Orville grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s.  Unlike their older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design.  They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this experience combined with profits from their various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's first airplane."