Sterling Biographies®: The Wright Brothers

At least as far back as the ancient myth of Icarus, humans longed to fly—but it wasn’t until December 17, 1903, on the windy dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, that the dream finally came true. And it was all thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright, two former bicycle mechanics who built their first toy plane—a rubber-band powered rotary—when they were just children. Find out how the two brothers, working quietly and persistently, ultimately solved the “flying problem” that had grounded so many others; what setbacks they experienced as they developed and improved their machine (including a tragic crash); and what additional “firsts” followed after they triumphantly took to the skies.