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Up
Wright Timeline 1930
to 1939 
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 o
invention, no scientific discovery, no work of art, no human
endeavor happens in an historical vacuum. There are always other
factors -- cultural, political, personal -- that influence the
outcome of a single event. So it was with the invention of the
airplane. When Wilbur and Orville were children, the abacus was the most
advanced mathematical aid, influenza was an often-fatal disease, and
the cannon was the most feared weapon of war. By the time Orville
died, the first computers were just being built, antibiotics had
begun to wipe out disease, and the atomic bomb made war
unthinkable. Many of these advances influenced the development of
the airplane -- and the airplane, in turn, influenced further
advances.
Here is chronology that shows not just the story of the Wright
brothers, but also the world they lived in and the important political,
cultural, and scientific events that loomed large in their lives. Click on the
decade you want to see:
|
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Time
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The Wright
Story
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The Bigger
Picture
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1930 |
John McMahon publishes The Wright Brothers: Fathers of
Flight, the first biography of Wilbur and Orville
Wright. Orville invents a printing press that prints on
balsa wood and cuts out shapes. It's used to manufacture toy
airplanes.
|
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Astronomer C. W. Tombaugh
discovers the planet Pluto (later to be downgraded to a "planetoid").
|
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1931 |
|
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Ernest Lawrence invents the
cyclotron to study atomic particles, the Star Spangled
Banner becomes America's national anthem, and the Empire
State Building is completed in New York City.
|
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1932 |
The Wright
Brothers Monument at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is dedicated
with Orville Wright in attendance. Orville is the only
person to see a national monument erected to him while he
is still living.
|
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In England, Ernest Walton and
John Cockcroft "split the atom" for the first
time, using a proton beam to break lithium atoms apart into
helium atoms. |
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1933 |
At the request of Chrysler, Orville assists with wind tunnel
tests that lead to the first aerodynamic automobiles, the
Desoto Airflow and Chrysler Airflow.
|
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Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
and the Nazi party comes to power. Franklin Roosevelt
institutes the "New Deal" to lift America out of the Great
Depression.
|
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1934 |
|
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The Soap Box Derby begins in
Orville's home town of Dayton, Ohio.
|
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1935 |
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President Roosevelt signs the
Social Security Act, Parkers Brothers release the
Monopoly board game, and Howard Hughes sets an aviation
speed record of 352 mph in the Hughes H-1.
|
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1936 |
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Hoover Dam, the world's largest
concrete structure, is completed.
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1937 |
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Amelia Earhart is lost while attempting to become the
first woman to fly around the world. The Hindenburg dirigible
explodes in New Jersey after crossing the Atlantic.
|
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1938 |
The Wright Bicycle Shop
and Wright home are opened to the public at Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield
Village.
|
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Nazi Germany invades Austria
and Czechoslovakia. The Holocaust begins with the "Kristallnacht"
(Night of Broken Glass) as Nazis destroy 7500 Jewish
businesses and hundreds of synagogues. Nylon is used for the
first time in a commercial product
– a toothbrush
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1939 |
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World War II begins in Europe and the Far
East. John Steinbeck writes The Grapes of Wrath and
Albert Einstein writes to U.S. President Roosevelt, advising
him of the possibility of creating a nuclear bomb.
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