Inventions - the plane

The world as we know it now hasn’t always been like this and that evolution didn’t
happen overnight. It is such an amazing thing - how powerful we have become as a
society and how much humanity has evolved and changed. Come to think of it,
technology has developed so highly these last 50 years it seems almost impossible
to imagine how different people used to live. Now, any information we need to know
is one click away from us and we have access to anything we could possibly want to
learn. We have so many possibilities of pursuing what makes us happy and
everyone gets to choose their way in life. All of this growth is due to all the people
that worked hard to discover the unknown. Everything everyone has ever invented
has had a contribution towards the creation of the civilisation we have come to be
today. Each of these inventions became important parts of our lives and inspired us,
leading to new ideas.
For example, the invention of the plane. Air travel really made this world small,
changing travel times from months to hours. Most people believe that the Wright
brothers invented the airplane. Now, it is true that they were the first humans to
achieve heavier-than-air flight, (although there is an interesting argument that a New
Zealand aviator made a successful flight twice as long as the Wright’s several
months prior), but they certainly were not the first, or only people who were working
on flying.
The Wright brothers were a peculiar pair of brothers. Born and raised in Dayton,
Ohio, they started a small bicycle shop, and shortly thereafter became enthralled in
aviation. They built kites, gliders, wind tunnels, and many, many models, all to help
their process of achieving powered, heavier-than-air flight. On December 17th, 1903,
they achieved what no man had done before: lift a powered craft heavier-than-air off
the earth in a controlled manner, and return back safely. After this, aviation took off. It
took less than 10 years for aircraft to break the 10,000 foot mark, and less than 30
for all metal aircraft to make their way into the skies. It only took a blistering 69 years
for man to go from a 120 ft flight, to traveling the 238,900 miles to the moon. That is
astonishing. Nothing, other than electronics (due in part to aviation) has evolved and
grown faster than any other invention in history.
Aviation led directly to the development of space rockets, as well as brought us
satellites that provide TV, satellite radio, mobile messaging, navigation systems in
cars and on phones, modern accurate maps, and information and knowledge about
our universe. Our economy would be significantly slower, as items couldn’t be moved
as quickly and perishable items wouldn’t be able to make the long trip by land
without going bad, or without large amounts of equipment keeping them cool. The
airplane is without a doubt the most influential invention of the 20th century, simply
because it shrunk the world. It has connected nations that would have never been
connected otherwise, and shown us a new, unseen and spectacular perspective of
our earth.