Beyond Borders

摘要

When most people think of early air travel, it's the Wright Brothers' celebrated flight in North Carolina on December 17,1903, that comes to mind. In fact, humans had been flying for hundreds of years before that historic date. Muslim Moors built and flew gliders in the 9th century, Marco Polo returned from 13th century China with tales of human-carrying kites, and two Frenchmen traveled 5 miles in a hot air balloon in Paris in 1783. Of course, the craft was completely unsteerable and thus set off in whichever direction the wind was blowing.