Photos of history

Most Americans (and especially North Carolinians and Ohioans) recognize the photo from December 17, 1903 of the Wright brothers' "plane" gliding a few feet above the ground with Orville Wright lying down on the flyer and Wilbur on the ground nearby.

"That picture has struck awe and inspiration in generations of aviation enthusiasts ever since," writes News 14 Carolina's Heather Moore.

According to Moore, Outer Banks lifesaver John T. Daniels took a now famous picture of the first flight on December 17, 1903.

This week is the 100th anniversary of when most of the world first saw proof of flight from Kitty Hawk. It was, after all, five years after the first flight, but up until May of 1908, there hadn't been any published pictures of flight.

Most North Carolinians know the story of the Wright brothers. While the Daniels picture was the first taken of successful flight, it was not the first picture that went public. The world didn’t get a chance to see aviation in action until several reporters and photographers secretly saw a later flight, in May of 1908.

“As far as the world is concerned, the 1908 flights were much more important than the 1903 flights,” said Larry Tise, Wilbur and Orville Wright Distinguished Professor of History at East Carolina University. “Until 1908 nobody had seen the Wright brothers fly and suddenly in May of 1908 at Kitty Hawk, they were viewed by seven reporters who got the story, got a photograph, and sent it out across the world.”

The 1908 Wright flyer was also different from the 1903 machine.

“In the 08 flight, they weren't lying down, they were sitting up,” explained Tise. “In the 08 flight they controlled the plane basically with a stick which would become the way planes were controlled. Also in 1908 for the first time, they carried a passenger. On May 14, 1908 was the Wright brothers’ first passenger flight.”The Charlotte Observer was the first newspaper to publish a story about the Wright brothers flying. However, when newspapers allacross the world published the first pictures of flight, the Wright brothers became instant international celebrities.

Those first public pictures were later lost, until recently.

The influence of North Carolinians

I came across a year-old-or-so issue of The Atlantic in our breakroom the other day, and I was immediately struck by the cover: a photo of Abraham Lincoln and the headline, "The 100 Most Influential Americans of All Time." After skimming it, I quickly realized that North Carolinians -- or even those with some (possibly tenuous) connection to the Old North State -- have been major players in influencing (a broad word, admittedly) the path of America.

You can view the entire list via the link above; below are how those with N.C. ties fared (and I may have missed a couple).

1. Abraham Lincoln (The Atlantic: "He saved the Union, freed the slaves, and presided over America’s second founding.") There is compelling evidence that Lincoln was not born in Kentucky, but in very western North Carolina (around Murphy, that is).

10. Woodrow Wilson ("He made the world safe for U.S. interventionism, if not for democracy.") Wilson spent a year at Davidson College and lived for a time in Wilmington.

13. James Madison ("He fathered the Constitution and wrote the Bill of Rights.") He also married North Carolina native Dolley Madison.

18. Andrew Jackson ("The first great populist: he found America a republic and left it a democracy.") No matter what the sandlappers say, Jackson was born in North Carolina.

23. Wright Brothers ("They got us all off the ground. ") Our license plates say it all.

50. James K. Polk ("This one-term president’s Mexican War landgrab gave us California, Texas, and the Southwest. ") Polk was born in the state and educated at UNC-Chapel Hill.

No. 2 on the list, George Washington, was an invester in the Great Dismal Swamp area of North Carolina, believing it to hold great development promise, even forming the Dismal Swamp Land Company in 1763. No. 31 on the list, Henry Clay, saw his presidential hopes plummet thanks to his "Raleigh Letter," written underneath a great oak in the City of Oaks. And George Herman "Babe" Ruth's first professional home run was hit in Fayetteville and he was known to fish and hunt in Eastern N.C.

The Atlantic also compiled a list of the Top Living Influentials; two Tar Heels made the list: Billy Graham (11) and Michael Jordan (14).

In 12 seconds, they changed the world

(I can't do better than this, so I'll just use it.)

"Most great breakthroughs were made on days long forgotten," writes the News & Observer.

"But there is something about the image of Orville and Wilbur Wright on the windswept sands of Kitty Hawk, coaxing an awkward mechanical bird off the sand -- and, with the shortest of flights, allowing humans the hope that they would not be forever confined to the ground.

"It was 104 years ago today that the Wright brothers achieved the world's first powered flight of a heavier-than-air craft, and the anniversary will not be ignored. ...

"But it's not just the Wrights' achievement that keeps people coming to the Outer Banks every December, said Darrell Collins, the memorial's historian. After all, the automobile, the telephone and penicillin also shaped modern life.

"Collins said it is the story of two brothers, working together with few resources other than their own hope and determination, that draws people to the memorial.

" 'In less than a minute,' he said, 'they changed the world.' ..."

Quick hits: One tourist mainstay is restored, while another says goodbye

Wright Brothers memorial sees inner beauty restored
"Towering 151 feet above the rest of Wright Brothers National Memorial, the granite Wright monument is a glittering landmark from afar; up close, it's a mighty sculpted artwork that well represents the feat of flight.

"Inside, it's dark and empty and dank. Niches in the granite walls where busts of Orville and Wilbur Wright and a model of the Wright Flyer were once displayed are bare. The steel map marking aviation breakthroughs has been removed. White buckets are positioned on the floor to catch water drips," says the Virginian-Pilot.

"Because it's so woefully unpresentable, few people have seen the interior of the Wright monument.

"But a restoration project set to start next month will include cleaning and restoring the interior and exterior. Mortar will be chipped out and replaced. Wiring and lighting will be redone. A new air conditioning unit will be installed.

"When the project is completed in 120 days, weather permitting, the Wright brothers monument will be nearly as perfect as it was when it was dedicated 75 years ago. ..."

Famous Cherokee booster dead at 72
"Henry 'Chief Henry' Lambert, who became the iconic image of the Cherokee Indian during five decades posing with tourists at his roadside tepee, died Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 72.
Lambert started 'chiefing' in 1951 to support his family," writes the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"His striking features, flowing headdress and enjoyment of the crowds brought generations of families back year after year to have their pictures made with him. His image still appears on postcards sold in Cherokee.

"Lambert never denied that the character he created was taken from Hollywood expectations of what an Indian should look like. He never promised to be authentic, only entertaining.

" 'I wouldn’t do anything else,' he said in a 1995 interview with The Associated Press. 'Meeting people from all walks of life. Kids. Kids love seeing an Indian.”' ..."