Wilbur was born in 1867, the third son of Bishop Milton Wright and Susan Wright. As a boy, he was both a brilliant student and a superb athlete. He hoped to go to Yale University until a hockey accident left him homebound for a time. (He neither attended college nor graduated from high school.) After recovering from the accident, he was reclusive and remained home for three years before helping his brother, Orville, publish a local newspaper. In the 1890s, the two brothers took advantage of the burgeoning bicycle business and opened a bike shop in their hometown of Dayton. The death of German aviator Otto Lilienthal made the news and caught Wilbur’s attention, rekindling an old interest in flying. He and Orville began making a model flying machine at the bike shop.

Beginning in 1900, they spent three years testing and perfecting their Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilbur’s hard work, intellect, and composed demeanor was essential to their success; when working out a problem, he could concentrate to the point of blocking out the rest of the world. He worried little what others said and was not disturbed by failure; problems were simply challenges to work through and learn from.