The Wright Brothers On Dec. 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright, realized one of mankind's earliest dreams: flight. The culmination of years of experimentation with kites and gliders finally paid off with the world's first controlled flight of a motor-driven aircraft by the Wright Brothers. Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Ind., on April 16, 1867, and Orville in Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 19, 1871. They were the sons of a clergyman who later became a bishop of the United Brethren Church. The boys demonstrated their mechanical abilities at an early age. A skating accident mad