“If God had meant for men to fly, he would’ve given them wings.” Such was the prevailing view in the 19th century.  But for Wilbur and Orville Wright, bachelor brothers who ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, the question of flight was not a matter of divine providence, but rather one of mechanics.

Through sheer determination and repeated experimentation, they accomplished what was long thought impossible on a blustery December day in 1903 on the coast of North Carolina. The world would never be the same as these two self-taught sons of a Christian Bishop taught themselves the rudiments of a science that would one day take man to the moon. Their creation of powered flight has literally shrunk the world and made possible the global economy that exists today. This class recounts the lives and challenges faced by these two incredible pioneers of flight.