Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.
Wilbur and Orville, along with their surviving siblings (two older brothers and one younger sister), had parents who encouraged their love of science. Their mother, Susan, had studied mathematics in college. She taught her children to draw plans and to think through experiments. Their father, Milton, was a church official who traveled a great deal. He brought home presents that stimulated their interests.
Wilbur and Orville long remembered
