Timeline Description: Orville Wright (born August 19, 1871) is one of the two Wright Brothers credited with the invention of and development of manned air flight. The brothers built the first powered aircraft, flew the first flights and began the first aeronautical company.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 16, 1867 | Wilbur Wright Born Wilbur Wright, the older brother of Orville Wright, was born to Reverend Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner Wright near Milville, Indiana. He is their third child |
| August 19, 1871 | Orville Wright Born Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio. |
| 1878 | Bishop Milton Wright Brought His Sons a Toy Helicopter In 1878, when Wilbur was 11 years old and Orville was seven, their father brought them a toy helicopter from a business trip. This sparked the boys' interest in flight. |
| June 1881 | Moved to Richmond, Indiana In June 1881, the family moved to Richmond, Indiana. Soon after the move, Orville began building kites. The family moved back to Dayton, Ohio in 1884. |
| 1886 | Orville Began a School Newspaper Orville began printing his own school newspaper, The Midget, in 1886. He maintained an interest in printing for several years. |
| March 1889 | Published West Side News In March 1889, Orville began publishing a weekly paper, The West Side News. The paper was published weekly until April 1890, then every evening until August 1890. Orville had not yet graduated high school. |
| September 1891 | Began Final Year of High School In September 1891, Orville began his last year of high school, predominantly studying Latin. He did not finish the year or graduate high school. |
| December 1892 | Orville and Wilbur Opened the Wright Cycle Company Orville and Wilbur opened a bicycle shop, the Wright Cycle Company. They remained in the bicycle business until 1907. The business funded their early aeronautical experiments. |
| 1897 | Began to Study Flight(1897 to 1898) With a renewed interest in aeronautics, Orville and Wilbur again begin to seriously consider and study flight. |
| July 1899 | Built Biplane Kite(July to August 1899) In the summer of 1899, the brothers built and flew a biplane kite to assess its functionality. |
| September 1900 | Moved to Kitty Hawk The two brothers moved to Kitty Hawk, NC to continue their flight tests. They remain through October, running a number of flight tests. |
| July 1901 | Additional Flight Tests(July to August 1901) Additional flight tests were conducted the following summer, using a larger, manned glider. |
| August 1902 | Continued Improvements(August to October 1902) The brothers returned to Kitty Hawk in the late summer of 1902. They continued to work on longer flights with the manned glider. That winter, they began experimenting with propellers. They apply for a patent on a flying machine in March 1903. |
| December 17, 1903 | First Powered Flight On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight in an engine-powered propeller aircraft. They continued with flights through 1904. |
| May 22, 1906 | Patent Granted In May 1906, the U.S. Patent Office granted the patent for the flying machine, No. 821,393. |
| January 1908 | Applied to Build Flying Machine for U.S. Government In January 1908, the Wright Brothers applied and were accepted to build a plane for the U.S. Government military. The plane was ready in September 1908. |
| September 17, 1908 | Plane Crash Orville Wright was severely injured in a plane crash while test flying the plane built for the U.S. military. |
| March 4, 1909 | Congressional Medal Orville and Wilbur Wright receive the U.S. Congressional Medal on behalf of their invention efforts. |
| July 1909 | Flight in Front of Taft U.S. President Taft watched Orville fly the Wright Bros. Plane at Ft. Myer. The flight met all military requirements. |
| November 22, 1909 | Founded Wright Company The Wright Bros. founded the Wright Company to handle their aeronautical enterprises and provide legal protections during ongoing patent suits on aircraft. These patent suits continue through the 1920s. |
| 1920 | Fame and Innovation(1920s to 1930s) During the 1920s and 1930s, the Wright Brothers fame grew. They frequently travelled to Europe and had multiple companies producing planes. Patents were issued for toys and a coding machine during these years. |
| January 30, 1948 | Orville Wright Died Orville Wright died in January 30, 1948. By the time of his death, all lawsuits were resolved and the Wright Brothers held clear precedence in manned air flight. |