25 Rare Photos That Changed the Course of Our Nation

Dec. 17, 1903 — Flight at Kitty Hawk

In this 1903 picture taken in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright is seen manning the controls on the lower wing, piloting the Wright Flyer on the first powered flight ever. In the moments before the plane was airborne, his brother, Wilbur Wright, on the ground, guided and steadied the plane as it accelerated along the starting rail at left.

John T. Daniels / AP