Two Brothers From Ohio

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.

-  Richard Sassaman and Mike Weinstein

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 their favorite gift. It was a toy similar to today’s helicopter. It was made from cork, bamboo, and tissue paper. The brothers called it “the bat.” It was powered by two rubber bands attached to two propellers. It began their fascination with “flying machines.”

Through their teenage years, a variety of projects kept the boys’ interest. They were good at fixing and building things. Orville tried his hand at making and selling kites. He and Wilbur built a lathe together.

After working together on building a large printing press, the brothers decided to publish a weekly newspaper in the spring of 1889. Orville was the publisher, and Wilbur was the editor. In a short time, the West Side News turned into a daily newspaper with a new name, The Evening Item. Before long, though, Orville discovered another interest: bicycles.

Bicycles were popular in America in the mid-1890s. The brothers opened a series of four bicycle shops in Dayton. From them, they sold and repaired bicycles. Each shop was larger than the one that came before it. In 1896, the Wright brothers started building their own brands of bicycles—the Van Cleve and the St. Clair—with parts they manufactured themselves.