Who made the first powered flight?

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Who made the first powered flight?

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Several aviators have been claimed as the first to fly a powered aeroplane. Much controversy has surrounded these claims.

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We don't know for sure if Pearse's first airplane took off in 1903
Wright brothers had only 5 witnesses to their early accomplishment because it was not a public event.
Errol Martyn suggests Pearse did not fly until long after the Wright Brothers
The Wright-Smithsonian contract may have prevented official recognition of an earlier flight than the Wright brothers
Perhaps the world's first powered flight was made by Gustav Weißkopf (Whitehead) and took place on August 14, 1901 in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Santos Dumont’s flight was the first public flight in the world
No patents that support Weißkopf's claim
George Bolt claims that Richard Pearse flew an airplane in 1903 before the Wright brothers
The most wanted photo in the history of technology
Richard Pearse stated: "After Langley's failure in 1903 I was still of the opinion that aerial navigation was possible, and I started out to solve the problem about March, 1904. The Wrights started at about the same time."
The invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright is one of the greatest historic events
Biographer Gordon Ogilvie claimed that Richard Pearse flew on March 1903, months before Wright brothers.

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History of Technology