### Lots of people flew before the Wright Brothers.  Some of them even survived! ###

The Wright Brothers are credited as *inventors of the airplane* not because they flew, but because they were the first to take flight in a vehicle which:

 - Lifted itself using its own power (which [gliders][1] and [kites][2] did not)
 - Was *aerodynamically controllable* by the pilot (which Ader's aircraft was not)
 - Remained in sustained flight, rather than [taking momentary flight][3] before returning to Earth


  [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas#Aviation
  [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Huangtou
  [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiDDBCEsD5I