This Is America, Charlie Brown (TV Series)

The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk (1988)

Brandon Horne: Cousin Dolly

Quotes 

• Cousin Dolly : [voiceover; first lines]  For thousands of years, man dreamed of flying. The ancient Greek myth had Icarus escape from prison by making wings of feathers held with beeswax. About the time that Christopher Columbus was discovering America, Leonardo da Vinci was sketching what he called his "flying machine". One hundred years later, in 1595, Fausto Veranzio designed the first parachute. In 1709, in Brazil, Bartolomeu de Gusmão created his "Great Bird" design. He was thrown into prison for trying to defy the laws of gravity. In 1781, Germany's Karl Meerwein created a glider so that he could fly like the birds. He never did. In 1783, two French brothers, Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier thrilled the world by flying the world's first hot-air balloon. Just ten years later, Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew the first manned balloon in the United States, and in 1894, Sir Hiram Maxim's triple-ton biplane just barely got off the ground. Finally, in the late 1800s, in Germany, Otto Lilienthal created and flew his own gliders. After Lilienthal died in a crash in his glider, his American disciple, Octave Chanute, flew *his* glider in America. But by the dawn of the 20th century, no man had been able to fly through the air with a machine powered aircraft. In 1896, in Dayton, Ohio, there were two brothers who owned a prosperous bicycle shop. They began to study the centuries-long writings and sketches of the men who had attempted to fly before them. seven years later, in December of 1903, these brothers would risk their lives to see if man could truly fly. Only a few spectators would witness this event that would change the world forever.