The Wright brothers were the first people to fly, right? Well, according to this excellent article at our pal mental_floss, that may not be quite true. For example:
French inventor Clément Ader distinguished himself as the first to develop stereo sound, among his many engineering innovations. He was the first to achieve self-propelled flight, with an batwing aircraft powered by a steam engine. His first flight was around 50 meters, on October 9, 1890, a full 13 years before the Wright Brothers! He then designed a better flying machine that reportedly flew 200 yards in 1892. A public demonstration in 1897 apparently ended badly, and Ader lost his Department of War funding.
Also, in response to some of the potential other flights people have listed, I think the Wright Brothers were very lucky to have a small crowd watching them, as well as a photographer.
As a Daytonian I felt the need to share all this. =)
There is a good article about him at Wikipedia ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse)).
It's a shame he's not more recognised as his thinking about aeroplane engineering and design was years ahead of his contemporaries (ailerons instead of wing-warping, forward mounted 'tractor' propeller, monoplane design with rear mounted stabiliser and elevator, the list goes on)
The only thing Pearse seems to have lacked is the showman's ability to sell himself...