December 17

On the 17th in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright were finally successful in their quest to build a heavier-than-air flying machine. The fourth flight of the day, with Wilbur at the controls, lasted 59 seconds. On April 19, 1944, Orville went on his last airplane flight, as a guest of Howard Hughes, at the controls of a Lockheed Constellation. Orville was quick to point out that the wingspan of the Constellation was longer than the first flight.