Humans have probably had the desire to fly ever since they saw the first bird fly in the air.

But flying as it turns out was a very challenging problem for creatures without wings.

Throughout the 19th century many people tackled the problem without success and it wasn't until the first

years of the 20th century that the problem was finally solved. Learn more about the invention of the

airplane and the solution to heavier than air travel on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Believe it or not, the origins of human flight go back much further than most people realize.

Ancient civilizations had stories of gods and heroes who had wings and managed to fly.

The most well-known story is probably that of Icarus who flew too close to the sun.

However, the ability to put humans into the air probably first occurred sometime in the

seventh century in China. The mechanism used to put people in the air were large kites. This was the first time

that humans could really get off the ground and fly into the sky. There were however serious problems

with putting a person in a kite. You couldn't

control them and more likely than not they would crash to the ground. In fact being

sent up in a kite was a form of execution in ancient China which shows just how unreliable as a means of transportation it was. of they never extended the idea beyond Sky Lanterns.

For centuries, tinkers and thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci created contraptions that mimicked

wings or large kites, but none of these designs came close to achieving actual flight. In 1783 Joseph and Jacques

Mongolia launched the first hot-air balloon which ushered in an era of balloon flights.

Ballooning was certainly useful. It was great for military reconnaissance to see an entire battlefield, as well as for making scientific observations.

However, it wasn't really a means of transportation.

Where you went and how far you traveled was

totally dependent on the wind. Balloon still didn't achieve the goal of flying

like a bird or if not a bird at least being able to fly where you want and

when you wanted. The person who really

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