The Wright Brothers 2

Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) was born in Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. As boys, he and his younger brother, Orville, made simple mechanical toys, and in 1888 they built a large printing press. The following year they began to publish the Dayton, Ohio, West Side News, which Wilbur edited. Already successful printers, the brothers opened a bicycle repair shop and showroom in 1892, and three years later they began assembling bicycles with tools of their own invention. The Wrights …

…the first Wright Exhibition Team, in which pilots he had trained performed in Wright planes. He also personally tested each new piece of equipment used on Wright planes and superintended production at the Wright plants. After the death of Wilbur in 1912, Orville Wright became president of the American Wright Company. Three years later he sold his stock in the company for over $500,000. He subsequently worked as an engineering consultant. He died in Dayton on January 30, 1948.