The Aerodrome

On October 7th, 1903, a crowd of citizens, politicians, public figures, and scientists lined the banks of the Potomac River near wide water, Virginia. Many had eagerly traveled from nearby Washington, D.C., to witness what they hoped would be, a momentous new milestone for humankind. For centuries, people had dreamt of powered, controlled flight. Even in the 1500s, Leonardo da Vinci designed machines to fly people but they never resulted in anything more than sketches and his notebooks. But now, in 1903, Samuel Langley seemed to be standing on the edge of something great.