Wright Brothers Day (December 17) is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

national observation. It is codified in the US Code, and commemorates the first successful flights in a heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled airplane, the ''

Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown b ...

'', that were made by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. On September 24, 1959, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared December 17 to be Wright Brothers Day. Wright Brothers Day was announced as an official commemorative day in Ohio, on October 5, 2011, celebrating 100 years of practical flight for the Wright Brothers.

References

December observances Observances in the United States by presidential proclamation Wright brothers Aviation in the United States {{holiday-stub

See also

References