Pioneers

German-American aviation pioneer Gustave Whitehead (right, with his daughter in his lap) sits beside his “Number 21” flying machine in 1901.

On August 14th of that year, Whitehead reportedly piloted a controlled, powered flight of this heavier-than-air craft in Fairfield, Connecticut.

If true, this would give Whitehead (and not the Wright Brothers) the title of “first in flight.” However, the claim remains disputed to this day.Valerian Gribayedoff/Wikimedia Commons

Revolutionary French builder Jean-Marie Le Bris stands inside his Albatros II flying machine in Brest, France, 1868.

Some credit Le Bris with making history’s first glider flights all the way back in 1856. A development on the craft used to make those flights, the glider pictured here achieved little success as an aircraft but nevertheless stands as the first one to ever be photographed, according to some sources.Wikimedia Commons

Otto Lilienthal pilots one of his groundbreaking gliding crafts in Derwitz, Germany, 1891.

Lilienthal’s early success in achieving what some say were history’s first true gliding flights inspired, among others, the Wright brothers. As Wilbur once said, “Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important.”Carl Kassner/Wikimedia Commons

Otto Lilienthal performs one of his gliding tests, circa 1895.

On August 10th of the following year, Lilienthal’s glider stalled mid-flight near Gollenberg, Germany, causing him to fall 50 feet to his death.Library of Congress

The 1904 Multiplane built by British builder Horatio Frederick Phillips.

Although his crafts weren’t very successful, Phillips achieved some fame for building multiplanes with far more wing surfaces than what one would find on most planes then and now. This 1904 model, for example, featured 21 wings.Wikimedia Commons

Demonstration of a two-person kite designed by Cody for use by the British Army Royal Engineers Balloon Section. Hampshire, England, circa 1903-1913.

Such kites were intended for use when high wind speeds (above 20 miles per hour) prevented the use of observation balloons. The kite could ascend 2,500 feet in the right conditions.Royal Engineers/Imperial War Museums/Wikimedia Commons

Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont pilots one of his airships around the Eiffel Tower on July 13, 1901.

After doing pioneering work in lighter-than-air crafts, Santos-Dumont piloted Europe’s first flight in a heavier-than-air craft in 1906.

Because he believed that aviation would bring peace and prosperity to the world, he declined to patent his breakthroughs, instead publishing his designs for all to share.Wikimedia Commons

Union Army personnel inflate the reconnaissance balloon Intrepid so that it can watch over the Battle of Fair Oaks near Gaines Mill, Virginia during the Civil War on June 1, 1862.

Many credit the Intrepid with helping the Union Army to win this battle over the Confederates. Throughout the war, hundreds of balloons were put into use.Mathew Brady/Library of Congress

The French military reconnaissance airship La République leaves Moisson, France, 1907.

The airship’s fatal crash two years later helped convince militaries around the world to move away from airships and toward airplanes, then just in their infancy.Library of Congress

A German military observation balloon launches from Équancourt, France on September 22, 1916, during World War I.

This period marked the zenith of balloon usage for military observation purposes.Europeana/Wikimedia Commons

American aviator Tony Jannus (right) pilots an early biplane, 1914.

Jannus used “flying boats” like these to make history as both the pilot of the first plane out of which a parachute jump was made (1912) and as the pilot of the world’s first commercial airplane flight, which ran from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa, Florida on January 1, 1914.

Two years later, Jannus died when the plane he was using to train Russian military pilots crashed into the Black Sea.Wikimedia Commons

French inventor Louis Blériot sits in one of his early flying machines inside his workshop, circa 1909.

Blériot would soon achieve fame by making the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air craft as well as making the first true monoplane.Bain News Service/Library of Congress

The Norge airship sits in England, circa 1915-1930.

On May 12, 1926, the Norge made history as the first aircraft to travel to the North Pole.Pacific and Atlantic Photos, Inc./Detroit Publishing Co./Library of Congress

A Herring-Curtiss flying machine sits on the ground in Mineola, New York, circa 1910-1920.

Founded by pioneering American aviators Augustus Moore Herring and Glenn Curtiss in 1909, the Herring-Curtiss Company became one of the most important aircraft manufacturers during the early years of flight.Bain News Service/Library of Congress

French aviator Louis Paulhan pilots his flying machine during an air show, most likely at the historic Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne festival in Reims, France during August 1909.

Paulhan set many height and speed records in his day and frequently clashed with the patent-holding Wright brothers over the legality of his practice of putting on air shows for profit.Bain News Service/Library of Congress

Early balloon and airplane pioneer Thomas Scott Baldwin takes off in his “Red Devil” aircraft, circa 1910-1915.

Baldwin made history as the first pilot to fly over the Mississippi River and later built aircraft for the U.S. Navy and helped lead American military efforts in aviation during World War I.Bain News Service/Library of Congress