Wilbur and Orville Wright began serious aeronautical work in 1899, testing wing-warping ideas with a kite. They corresponded with the Smithsonian and studied earlier glider pioneers such as Lilienthal. Their methodical approach turned bicycle-shop skill into a disciplined programme of fixed-wing research.

The Wrights' origins helped create one of modernity's favourite literary plots: ordinary mechanics altering the world through patient craft. Their story also made flight a democratic symbol, less aristocratic dream than workshop achievement.