People have dreamed of flying like birds for thousands of years. Many tried to build flying machines, but none succeeded.That changed when two brothers came along.

Wilbur and Orville Wright were born in America in the 1860s and grew up in a small town.Their father was a church leader, and their mother was skilled at building things by hand. She taught her sons how to use tools and understand how things work.

The brothers never finished high school, but they loved learning. They read many books and were always building things or trying new ideas. They first opened a shop to fix machines, then began making bicycles, and became very skilled at it.

One day, the brothers read about others trying to build flying machines. Most of these attempts failed, and many people lost their lives trying to fly. Still, Wilbur and Orville were not afraid. They believed they could find a solution. The brothers carefully studied how birds moved and turned in the air. They read everything they could about flight and wrote letters to others working on the same problem.

Next, they began their own experiments. They built large kites to fly and even created a wind tunnel, which is a special room where fast-moving air helps test different shapes. This allowed them to see which wing designs worked best.

The brothers discovered that the shape of the wings was very important. They also realized that controlling the machine was just as necessary. It was not enough to get into the air—you had to be able to turn and change direction whenever needed.

In 1900, the brothers traveled to Kitty Hawk, a place with strong winds and soft sand. The soft sand helped make crashes less dangerous. They returned there each year to test their flying machines.

They started by building gliders, which are flying machines without engines that rely on the wind. The brothers made many gliders, each one better than the one before, and learned more with every test.

By 1903, they were ready to try something new. They realized that gliders could not fly very far or for very long. So, they built a flying machine powered by a small gas engine. They named it the Wright Flyer.

On December 17, 1903, everything was ready. It was a cold, windy day. Orville lay down on the machine while Wilbur stood beside it. The engine started, the machine rolled forward on the sand, and then it lifted into the air. Orville stayed in the air for 12 seconds, flying 120 feet—about the length of a large room—before landing back on the sand. This was the first time in history that a powered machine carried a person through the air.

They made three more flights that day. Wilbur took the longest one, staying in the air for 59 seconds and covering 852 feet. Afterward, the wind tipped the machine over and broke it.

At first, many people did not believe the brothers. Some newspapers did not even report their achievement. Still, the brothers kept working and built even better flying machines. In 1908, they finally demonstrated their invention to crowds in France and America, and everyone saw that it truly worked.

The Wright Brothers changed the world. Today, millions of people fly in airplanes. It all began with two brothers who refused to give up on their dream.