More "Errors," "Inaccuracies," and "Whoppers" by Orville Wright in "Boys' Life"
Wilbur Wright dies. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid on May 30, 1912. The world was stunned. By the time of his death, it had been accepted by many over the world that the Wrights were the first to fly as they had claimed. But it was Wilbur who had made the only possible flight December 17, 1903, that was long enough to be considered "sustained"--852 feet. From a New York Times article after Wilbur Wright's death Soon though, with Wilbur no longer alive, it's easy to see that his younger brother, Orville, stole his title of "first to fly." We can see that in the Sept.,1914, Boys' Life article , where Orville claimed that he was the one who had made the flight of 852 feet. However, he wouldn't have been able to stick to that story--even though it's still being published by Boys' Life. So probably with Orville's help, the unsustained "flight" of only 120 feet that Orville really made became accepted as the "first flight.&qu