grow45, I am in 100% agreement with you except I give no credence to the notion that a powered flight of any sort was made any of the people you mention.
The most interesting of all the "flew before the Wrights" claims from around the world (I have delved as far as I can into 9 of them) is Karl Jatho in the late summer & early fall of 1903. It seems reasonably certain that he achieved a series of short (but increasingly long) hops, the longest of which was about 60 meters. The question of how much control he had or whether this constitutes a sustained powered flight is one that we can talk about all day.
But, back to grow45's point, even if he did fly it had basically zero effect on the course of human history - whereas we can look at every airplane that flies today and see the direct influence of the Wright Brothers in it. If anyone gave the gift of flight to the world, it was the Wrights.
Last edited by I have control; 13th Dec 2003 at 01:52.