Connecticut Lawmakers can change history!

[slebetman]

Actually, back then, plenty of people made public claims of manned heavier than air flight. The fact is, the Wright brothers were successful mainly because many others have tried it and documented their attempts. Contrary to the popular myth that they basically independently experimented with flight, they actually corresponded with other early pioneers and aerodynamicists and read up on and was aware of other early experiments.

To understand what the Wright Brothers did you need to understand that critics and skeptics of the time rejected the earlier claims because they didn't fully prove that the aircraft actually managed to sustain flight. All the earlier attempts (and indeed from from Whitehead's own description, his flight) were considered powered glides.

The difficulty is actually proving that your flight is actually sustained and not just an extended glide. Over time, the requirements evolved into flying a circle. Because if you can fly in a circle then regardless of terrain at least one part of your flight will not be going down hill. This is what the Wright Brothers achieved and what others before them couldn't do. Their first confirmed and witnessed flight landed where they took off.