December the 17th 1903 - the first real airplane took off with Orville Wright as the pilot. The rest is history as they say. These two brothers were great engineering pioneers and brave souls to try their own ideas. Their planes crashed several times before that historic few seconds - and they had many crashes after that as well.

Next time you get on your cheap flight to Ibiza or Tichuana remember these brave men (and many others) who made this possible just 100 years ago.

More? Excellent Wikipedia entry