Early flight and aviation pioneers.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
How did Bessie Coleman die during a 1926 airshow rehearsal?
Coleman wasn't wearing a seatbelt as she leaned out to scout a parachute-jump site, so a sudden nose dive threw her from the cockpit.
Why did Bessie Coleman train to become a pilot in France, not the US?
No US flight school would admit a Black woman in the early 1920s, so Coleman learned French and earned her pilot's license in France in 1921.
Bessie Coleman demanded what admission policy at a Waxahachie airshow?
Coleman threatened to cancel until organizers agreed to one entrance, though spectators remained segregated once inside.
Which provisions did Charles Lindbergh take on his 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris?
Accounts disagree on the sandwich count, but they agree Lindbergh carried sandwiches and water for the 33½-hour flight.
Charles Lindbergh won TIME's first-ever "Man of the Year" title for which 1927 feat?
Lindbergh flew solo from New York to Paris in May 1927, and at age 25 he became the first person TIME ever named "Man of the Year."
How did Otto Lilienthal steer his gliders during flight?
Lilienthal hung below his glider and swung his hips to steer, the same weight-shift method hang glider pilots still use today.
Otto Lilienthal modeled the wings of his gliders after studying what?
Storks soaring over his Pomerania hometown were his favorite study, and his 1889 book Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation shared what he learned.
Before building airplanes, what product made Frenchman Louis Blériot rich?
Blériot's fortune came from acetylene headlamps, the bright-burning lights early cars needed before electric ones existed.
Which accessory did jeweler Cartier create for pilot Santos-Dumont, naming it after him?
Louis Cartier made the watch in 1904 so Santos-Dumont could check the time in flight; the Santos went on sale to the public in 1911.
Santos-Dumont won a Paris aviation prize by circling which landmark in his airship?
In 1901 his airship won 100,000 francs for the round trip past the Eiffel Tower, and he gave the money to his crew and Paris's poor.