Telegram / 17 December 1903 / 1903
Success four flights thursday morning
Orville Wright to his father in Dayton, Ohio, sent from Kitty Hawk at 5:25 that afternoon. Telegrams carried no punctuation and were charged by the word.
- Document
- Western Union telegram, Form No. 168
- Sent
- 17 December 1903, 5:25 p.m.
- From
- Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
- Via
- Norfolk, Virginia
- To
- Bishop Milton Wright, 7 Hawthorne St, Dayton, Ohio
- Words paid
- 33
- Held by
- Library of Congress
Wilbur and Orville Wright announced in plain telegraph to their family a stunning achievement -- the world's first controlled powered flight.
On December 17, 1903, they woke to freezing temperatures and winds of nearly 30 mph. The puddles outside had frozen overnight and the wind still hadn't died down, but they decided to fly anyway.
The first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. It was enough. The age of aviation had begun.
Library of Congress, Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers. Public domain.