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The Wright Brothers Essay

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The Wright Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright were pioneers, skilled craftsman, and engineers not only in aviation but in many other trades as well. “They loved to tinker and experiment with mechanical things and it characterized the Wrights through out their lives. Each of the brothers had a deeply ingrained inquisitive streak that was nurtured in a home that was encouraged.” (Moolman, 1980, p. 107) They had a good family upbringing, but moved frequently. The Wright brothers paved the way for aviation to take off with their thoughts, ideas, and inventions. On April 16, 1867 Wilbur Wright was born on a small farm near Millville, Indiana. He was the third son of Milton and Susan Wright. Milton was a clergyman, teacher, and farmer. He became …show more content…

The gift their father gave them was an incentive, not to mention their mother’s ability to make and fix most anything, which led them to become some of the greatest inventors of all time. Orville and Wilbur were very talented young men. In the June of 1881 when Orville was nine years old the family moved to Richmond, Indiana where Milton became an editor of a church paper called the Richmond Star. Richmond wasn’t far from their grandfather’s farm where they loved to play. Their grandfather had a wagon shop and a lathe that the boys were fascinated by. They soon built a lathe of their own in the barn behind their house. Another fascination that Orville had was the printing press. “While in Richmond Orville came across some wood illustrations in the Century Magazine and was inspired to make a few woodcuts, using the spring of an old pocketknife as a carving tool. Wilbur gave Orville a set of engraving tools, and the resulting woodcuts were printed on their father’s letterpress, an occasion that sparked Orville’s love affair that would occupy Orville almost a decade after the family moved back to Dayton”. (Howard, 1987,1998, p. 20) The family moved back to the house on Hawthorn Street in Dayton in June of 1884. The Wrights mother Susan had suffered tuberculosis that continued to become worse since they had returned to Dayton. Not long after Wilbur suffered an accident while playing an ice hockey game called shinny and for the

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