Fliers or Liars

We had just watched a space shuttle launch on TV when Dad said, "Orville and Wilbur Wright's first airplane flight happened little more than a hundred years ago. Now, space flight seems routine."

"That's amazing," I replied. 

Dad asked, "Did you know that Granddad's Great Uncle Lou was just 21 years old when the Wright brothers flew? When Granddad asked him about his reaction to the news of this amazing first flight, Great Uncle Lou said that he didn't believe it. At the time, nobody did."

Dad explained, "News traveled slowly in 1903. Only five people witnessed the Wright brothers' first flight - not a single reporter. The brothers sent a telegram about their flights to their father in Dayton, Ohio, asking him to inform the press. But the Dayton Journal refused to publish the story. The editor said that the flights were too short to be important. When the Wright brothers finally sent a statement to the press, people showed little interest."

Dad added, "Reporters were invited to witness their later flights, but they were postponed. Only invited friends witnessed their next few flights. Because the only photographs were taken by the Wright brothers themselves, people grew skeptical of their claims."

Dad went on, "Newspapers called the brothers 'bluffers.' They questioned whether the Wright brothers were 'fliers or liars'. So Orville and Wilbur Wright held public demonstrations of flight in Europe and America. People everywhere were thrilled; the Wright brothers achieved world fame. They received awards from the President, and Dayton held a homecoming celebration in their honor."









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