The
Wright brothers,
Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and
Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who are credited with inventing and building the world's first successful
airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903 four miles south of
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1904-1905 the brothers developed their
flying machine into the
first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.