Milton Wright is born.

Susan Koerner is born.

Susan and Milton Wright marry.

Reuchlin Wright is born.

Lorin Wright is born.

Wilbur Wright is born.

Wright twins Otis and Ida are born and die soon after their birth.

Orville Wright is born.

Katharine Wright is born.

Bishop Wright brings Wilbur and Orville a toy helicopter, which sparks their interest in aviation.

Susan contracts tuberculosis.

Wilbur Wright is injured in an ice-skating game, derailing his plans to enter Yale.

Susan Wright dies.

Wilbur and Orville Wright go into the bicycle-making business.

Wilbur and Orville Wright begin reading about the work of Otto Lilienthal.

Otto Lilienthal dies in a gliding accident.

Wright brothers write to Smithsonian Institution for information about flight.

Wilbur Wright builds a kite to test wing-warping control.

Wilbur and Orville Wright introduce themselves to Octave Chanute.

Wright brothers begin designing their first full-size glider.

Wright brothers arrive at Kitty Hawk, N.C. to begin gliding experiments.

Wright brothers begin test flights with their first full-size glider.

Wright brothers fly their glider with ten-year-old Tom Tate as a passenger.

Wright brothers return to North Carolina after wintering in Dayton to continue experiments with a new glider; results are poor.

Octave Chanute invites brothers to speak at the meeting of the Western Society of Engineers.

Wright brothers build a wind tunnel in Dayton to test airfoil data and conduct tests; they determine more accurate data than Lilienthal had provided.

Wright brothers build a glider that is the world's first aircraft with three-axis control.

The brothers complete their new glider and begin tests.

Wright brothers replace the double rudder with a movable rudder, which solves a control problem.

Wright brothers make longest glides to date.

Wilbur Wright writes to engine manufacturers looking for an engine for a flying machine.

Wright brothers build and test a full-size propeller for their flying machine.

Charlie Taylor builds an engine for the Wrights' flying machine because no company has an engine that meets the Wrights' specifications.

The engine runs for the first time. It freezes up and shatters. A new one is built.

Wright brothers apply for a patent for their flying machine.

The new engine for the Wright aircraft runs smoothly.

The Wright brothers complete designing and building their flying machine.

Wright brothers leave Dayton for Kitty Hawk.

Wright brothers test the motor for their flying machine; it vibrates excessively and destroys the propeller, which has to be rebuilt.

Wright brothers test the engine again; it cracks the propeller again.

Orville Wright returns to Kitty Hawk from Dayton where he went to build a new propeller.

Wright brothers attempt first powered flight with Wilbur at the controls. It is unsuccessful and machine is damaged slightly.

Wright brothers make the first powered flight, flying 120 feet in 12 seconds with Orville at the controls.

Wright brothers make three more powered flights, each longer than the last.

The first Wright Flyer is destroyed by the wind.

Wright brothers write a detailed account of their achievements for the Associated Press.

Ernest Archdeacon has a Wright-type glider built for him in France.

Robert Esnault-Pelterie imitates the Wright glider without success.

Reporters are invited to see flight of Flyer 2 at Huffman Prairie. Results are disappointing and the craft never gets off the ground.

Wrights try to fly the Flyer 2 again before reporters without success.

Wright brothers test catapult they built to help them get off the ground-a necessity because winds are light in Dayton.

Orville Wright flies first complete circle in an airplane in Huffman Prairie.

Robert Esnault-Pelterie tests glider that uses ailerons for the first time.

Ferdinand Ferber adds a tail assembly to a glider to provide longitudinal stability. This is the beginning of the European biplane.

Wright brothers make their best flights during 1904-covering a distance of about three miles.

France and England grant patents to the Wright brothers.

Ernest Archdeacon tests his second glider at Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris. It is the first use of an aerodrome, the predecessor to the airport, is used to launch and land an aircraft.

Wrights begin to rebuild the Flyer 2-called the Flyer 3.

Lawrence Hargrave's box-kite configuration is first incorporated in two float gliders-a Voisin-Archdeacon model and a Voisin-Bleriot design.

Orville Wright test flies the original Flyer 3.

Orville Wright smashes into the ground at more than 30 miles per hour while flying the Flyer 3; forces the brothers to reexamine the aircraft design carefully.

Wright brothers begin Flyer modified Flyer 3; its airworthiness is obvious.

Wilbur Wright flies the Flyer 3 for more than 18 minutes.

Orville Wright flies the Flyer 3 for 26 minutes.

Orville Wright breaks the half-hour mark in the Flyer 3, remaining aloft for 33 minutes.

A small crowd comes to watch the Wright brothers fly the Flyer 3. Wilbur flies 30 circuits and remains in the air for 39.5 minutes and more than 24 miles. It is the first practical airplane.

Wright brothers disassemble the Flyer 3 and hide it until 1908.

Wright brothers offer their airplane to the U.S. secretary of war but are turned down.

Wright brothers offer to sell their airplane to Great Britain and to France but are turned down.

An editorial in the Paris edition of the New York Herald expresses skepticism about the Wright brothers' achievements.

The U.S. Patent Office grants the Wright brothers Patent Number 821.393 for their flying machine.

Alberto Santos-Dumont flight tests his 14-bis aircraft in France.

Alberto Santos-Dumont flies for a short distance in his 14-bis.

Alberto Santos-Dumont wins the Archdeacon prize in his 14-bis.

Alberto Santos-Dumont wins 1500 francs from the Aero-Club de France for the first 100-meter flight.

Orville Wright ships planes to Europe to show to prospective buyers.

Henri Farman flies 100 feet in a Voison-Farman I airplane.

Alexander Graham Bell establishes the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA).

Henri Farman wins the second Archdeacon Cup for making the longest flight during the year, flying 2,350 feet.

After returning from Europe, Wilbur Wright goes to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Board of Ordinance about purchasing a Wright plane.

U.S. War Department issues Specification No. 486 for a Heavier-than-air Flying Machine. It states requirements the Wrights can meet.

Henri Farman wins the Grand Prix de Aviation and 50,000 francs by flying a one-kilometer circular course.

Wright brothers submit their formal bid for one aircraft to the War Department.

The Wrights apply for a patent for an automatic stability device.

French syndicate agrees to purchase four airplanes from the Wrights.

The Red Wing, the AEA's first plane, is tested.

The Wright brothers go to Kitty Hawk to work on their new Flyer A and regain their flying skills.

Charlie Furnas becomes the first airplane passenger, flying in a new Flyer A.

Glenn Curtiss test flies the AEA's White Wing, flying 1,017 feet.

Glenn Curtiss flies his June Bug more than 3,000 feet.

Glenn Curtiss flies the June Bug 5,360 feet in 1 minutes and 40 seconds, winning the Scientific American trophy.

Wilbur Wright flies his new plane at LeMans, France, astounding his French observers and breaking flight records.

Orville Wright goes to Fort Myer, Virginia, to begin test flights of plane for the U.S. Signal Corps.

Orville Wright is remaining aloft for more than an hour at Fort Myer, Virginia.

Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge is killed and Orville Wright is badly injured in a crash at Fort Myer. It is the first passenger fatality in an airplane.

Samuel Cody flies first plane in England, the British Army Aeroplane No. 1.

Wilbur Wright winds the Coupe Michelin for remaining aloft for a record two hours.

Glenn Curtiss makes first flight of the Golden Flyer, which has ailerons mounted between the two sets of wings.

The Wright brothers file a patent infringement lawsuit against Glenn Curtiss.

Glenn Curtiss flies the Reims Racer in the first major international air show, La Grande Semaine d'Aviation. He is the first winner of the James Gordon Bennett Trophy for the fastest average speed during a 20-kilometer run over a closed course.

Katharine and Orville Wright arrive in France and join Wilbur at Pau. They receive visits from the nobility in Europe and the wealthy.

The Wrights to Centocelle, Italy to train two pilots for the Italian army.

The Wrights arrive in New York from Europe, where enormous crowds greet them.

The Wrights head for Fort Myer, Virginia, to demonstrate the Military Flyer for the U.S. Army.

Orville Wright makes first flight of the Military Flyer. He flies into a tree and damages the plane.

Orville Wright begins to make trouble-free flights of the Military Flyer.

Orville Wright sets a new duration record with the Military Flyer, flying for 1 hour and 12 minutes with Lieutenant Frank Lahm on board.

Orville Wright flies the speed trial for the Military Flyer with Lieutenant Benny Foulois on board. He surpasses the 40 mile-per-hour requirement by two miles per hour.

The Wright Military Flyer is formally accepted by the U.S. Signal Corps. It receives the designation Signal Corps Airplane No. 1. It is the world's first military airplane.

Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Germany goes up in a plane with Orville Wright. He is the first member of any royal family to fly.

Wilbur Wright begins giving flying lessons to Lieutenants Lahm and Humphreys at College Park, Maryland.

Lt. Humphreys solos for the first time.

The Wright Company is founded.

The Wright Company opens a factory in Dayton, Ohio and establishes a flying school at Huffman Prairie.

Lt. Benny Foulois makes his first flight at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Orville Wright and Charlie Taylor set up a flying school in Montgomery, Alabama, enrolling five students.

The Wright-Fliers, an exhibition team, begin performing.

The Wright Company introduces the Wright Model B-their most popular aircraft.

President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly when he is taken aloft by Arch Hoxsey, a member of the Wright exhibition flying team.

The U.S. Congress makes its first appropriation for military aviation--$125,000. The U.S. Signal Corps orders five airplanes.

The U.S. Army uses a Wright Model B in College Park, Md., for the first military trials of a bombsight and bomb-dropping device.

Orville Wright tests automatic stabilization device at Kitty Hawk.

Cal Rodgers flies a Wright Model EX on the first transcontinental flight.

The Wright Model C is introduced.

The Wright Company builds the Model D for an army contract.

Wilbur Wright dies of typhoid fever. Orville takes over as president of the Wright Company.

U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of the Wrights in the patent suit.

The Wright Company builds its first hydroplane, the Model CH.

The Wright Company builds the first Wright aircraft with a fuselage and with a T-tail, the Model F.

Orville Wright receives the Collier Trophy for his automatic stabilization device.

Lawrence Sperry develops a gyroscopic stabilization device that forms the basis for all future such systems.

The Wright Model F is the first plane with a continuous wooden fuselage and the first Wright plane with a slight dihedral to the wings.

The Wright Model HS is the last Wright pusher aircraft.

The Wright Model K is the Wright's first tractor aircraft.

Orville Wright sells the Wright Company to a group of financiers.

The Wright Model L is the last plane manufactured by the Wright Company.