Sketches in History | To the Skies

As promised, the 15-Minute History Podcast team is bringing you a new segment, just for kids, called Sketches in History, where history isn’t just a story—it’s an adventure.

Be sure to look for the discussion questions at the end of this post.

Hello, and welcome back to Sketches in History! I’m Lottie Archer, your guide. Every week, we sit in my grandfather’s study and open my extraordinary notebook to a page that shows a sketch from history. The notebook teaches us what’s happening in that sketch by magically pulling us into that moment to experience it first-hand. Last time, we experienced Paul Revere’s daring midnight ride. We witnessed agency, bravery, and the start of the Revolutionary War. Today, I’m excited to see what adventure our magical notebook has in store for us next!

But first, let's learn our word of the day: innovation.

Innovation means creating something new or improving something that already exists. It can include creating a new process, improving an old one, or crafting something entirely new. For example, have you ever been asked to do something – like clean your room, do your homework, or do chores around the house? When you get started, you probably stop to think about the best way to get it done. That’s an example of innovation! Throughout history, innovation has shaped our world. Let’s look for examples of innovation during our adventure today.

It's time to open our notebook and see where it takes us!

We’ve landed on a sketch of a sandy beach. The wind is blowing gently, and the sun is shining through a clear sky. Two men are standing next to a strange contraption that looks like a big kite made of wood and fabric. I can see the picture start to move as they adjust the wings.

Are you ready? Close your eyes, hold on tight, and let’s go!

We made it! We’re standing on a windy, sandy shore. The air is cool, and the sky is clear. The two men from the picture are moving around what looks like a giant paper aircraft. It looks really odd. The men are wearing bowler hats, ties, and dressed really well for working outside. There’s no paved roads, and it looks like only a few people are watching the men work.

Next to us is a wagon and some horses. I can see more paper and wood in the back. Let’s see what we can find in the front of the wagon that will help us confirm where we are.

Jackpot! We’ve found a newspaper from today. At the top, it shows the date as December 17th, 1903. There’s an article about the Panama Canal starting next year, and another one about President Theodore Roosevelt speaking from Washington. There’s also a mention of our location…Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

That confirms it! Do you see those two men? They are brothers—Orville and Wilbur Wright. They’re bicycle makers, but today they're about to do something amazing. They’ve built something called a flying machine, which they hope will soar through the air like a bird!

Let’s move in for a closer look.

The aircraft they are working on is large, but it looks really light. The wings are long, with one stacked on top of the other. Small wooden beams separate the wings, creating a large space between them. Long wooden poles appear to be fastened together behind the wings, ending in a paper tail. Two propellers, attached to small engines, are attached to the back of the wings. These propellers will push the flying machine forward. I don’t see any wheels and since the sand is uneven, it looks like the brothers have put the entire aircraft on a wooden track. I bet they did this to keep it level for takeoff!

Wilbur is steadying the aircraft. Orville is lying flat on the lower wing. They're checking every detail carefully. Based on what I’ve read, the brothers have spent years studying birds and experimenting with designs. They’ve also reviewed other failed flying experiments in order to learn what not to do with their machine. All that work has paid off and today, their innovation is about to change history.

The engine sputters and coughs to life.

I can hear Wilbur showing over the noise from the engines. Orville is nodding as he grips the controls tightly.

There it goes! The flying machine is moving forward along a wooden track.

It’s gaining speed, faster and faster. Oh wow! It’s lifting off the ground! It’s flying! Orville Wright is in the air, piloting the first successful airplane flight in history!

Wilbur and their friends are cheering and shouting with joy. I can hear them shouting the word, “Bully!”, which in this time is the same as yelling “Awesome”! The aircraft is still flying. Let’s count the seconds its in the air. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…and it’s landed. It lasted just 12 seconds and looks like it covered 120 feet—that’s about the length of a large house. That may not sound like much, but it proved humans could fly!

Let’s watch closely as they prepare for another flight. Now, Wilbur takes a turn piloting.

Wow! This flight is even longer and goes almost 200 feet! Wilbur lands the aircraft as more cheers erupt from the small crowd of people. Today, the Wright Brothers have shown incredible innovation. They didn’t give up, they learned from their past experiments and the failures of others, and even when others doubted them, they kept going. Their courage and creativity have just changed the world forever.

It’s time to open the notebook and return to our study.

We’re back in the study, safe and sound. Let’s see what the notebook says about today’s scene.

Today, we witnessed the Wright Brothers' first successful airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered, controlled flight in history with their aircraft, the Wright Flyer.

After years of testing gliders there, they set up a 60-foot wooden track on the sandy dunes to help launch their biplane, which had a 12-horsepower engine and no wheels, just skids. Facing a strong headwind, Orville piloted the Flyer, lying flat, while Wilbur steadied the wings; they rolled it down the greased track on a wheeled dolly, and after about 40 feet, it lifted off, flying 120 feet in 12 seconds.

Three more flights followed that day, the longest covering 852 feet in 59 seconds, all witnessed by five locals, including John T. Daniels, who snapped the famous photo. Their success at Kitty Hawk marked the birth of aviation, proving humans could fly under power and control.

Remember our word of the day? That's right, innovation. The Wright Brothers innovated tirelessly, experimenting and learning from failures until they succeeded. While the flights that day seem small, each one inspired others in history to take what the Wright Brothers learned and innovate. Each invention prompted more, even better versions of the airplane, from propeller planes to the jet-powered, super-sonic aircraft we see and experience today. None of these innovations would have been possible if the Wright Brothers hadn’t innovated and created that first, very simple, flying machine. Their creativity inspires us all to innovate and never give up.

What an exciting moment! We witnessed the first successful flight, saw how innovation can make the future better for all, and experienced what it was like to see a moment that truly changed the course of history. I can't wait to see where our magical notebook takes us next time.

Thank you for joining me in Sketches in History. Don’t forget to subscribe to the 15-Minute History Podcast so you’ll never miss the next adventure. If you have a favorite moment in history you'd like to see in the notebook, send me your ideas at 15minutehistory@gmail.com.

Until next time, keep wondering, keep imagining, and remember—the past is just a page away.

Discussion Questions

• Why was the Wright Brothers' flight so important in history?

• What challenges do you think the Wright Brothers faced in building their airplane?

• If you were there, how would you have felt seeing the first airplane fly?

• Can you think of another example of innovation that changed the world?