Tag Archives: Orville Wright

Selfridge Crash Described in New Acquisition

On this day — September 17 — in 1908, Lt. Thomas Selfridge became the first person to die in a powered airplane crash. He was the passenger in a plane piloted by Orville Wright, who was demonstrating the Wright Flyer … Continue reading

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President Taft presents Medals to Wright Brothers, 1909

On June 10, 1909, U.S. President William Howard Taft presented Wilbur and Orville Wright with the Aero Club of America gold medals in the East Room of the White House, before an assembly of over 1,000 people. The above photograph … Continue reading

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Funeral of Orville Wright

Orville Wright, who with his brother, Wilbur Wright, invented the first powered controlled aircraft, died on January 30, 1948, after suffering his second heart attack. He was 76. (Wilbur died in 1912 at the age of 45.) His niece, Ivonette … Continue reading

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