Today, we feature the marker at the Engineers Club of Dayton, 110 E. Monument Ave., about the Birth of Aviation.
Marker location
Marker text
In 1899, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton built a kite to test a revolutionary flight control system, and in 1900, built their first airplane (glider).
With promising results, the Wrights built man-carrying gliders and airplanes to refine their ideas. Wind tunnel experiments led to accurate calculations of lift and drag.
In 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they made the first sustained, controlled, powered flight in history, lasting 12 seconds. By 1905, the Wright brothers had developed the first practical airplane and the skills to pilot it.
The U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased a Wright flyer, the first practical military aircraft, in 1909. Through public demonstrations beginning in 1908, the Wright brothers showed the world the future of aviation.
The Ohio Historical Markers program
Beginning in the 1950s, the program encompasses over 1,750 unique markers that tell the state’s history as written by its communities.
Reading a marker
In addition to the text describing the historic marker, in the lower right is a number. This indicates the sequence number of the sign installed in a particular county.
Example above
Marker No. 3-57. The 3 indicates that this particular marker is the 3rd marker to be erected in the county and 57 indicates that the marker is located in Montgomery County.
More information about markers
You can find information about all of Ohio’s historical markers at the Remarkable Ohio website.