Two Bicycle Mechanics Beat the Government to the Sky

In 1903 the U.S. Army gave America's most famous scientist $50,000 to build a flying machine. It crashed into the Potomac twice. Nine days later, two bicycle mechanics with no college degrees and about $1,000 flew at Kitty Hawk. This is the real story of the Wright brothers. CHAPTERS 0:00 $50,000 vs. $1,000 0:57 The flying toy 2:23 The man who fell 3:55 Watching the birds 5:26 The wind tunnel 6:43 Langley's race 8:23 Twelve seconds 10:38 Flyers or liars 12:10 The Smithsonian feud Origin Files tells the hidden beginnings behind the world's greatest inventions, companies and ideas — using real archival photographs. Subscribe for a new file every week. MUSIC • "Despair and Triumph" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Discovery Hit" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Hidden Agenda" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Impending Boom" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Lost Frontier" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Majestic Hills" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Sad Trio" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Truth of the Legend" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) — Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Archival images: public domain and Creative Commons works via Wikimedia Commons. Full photo credits (authors + licences) are in the pinned comment.