Orville and Wilbur Wright are arguably two of the most important names in the history of the modern airplane.  The Wright brothers spent their early careers perfecting numerous gliders, until moving on to powered flight vehicles in the early 20th century.  In December of 1903, the brothers completed the first instance of sustained heavier-than-air human flight and would go on to patent their invention, naming it the “Flying-Machine.”

On this day, May 22, in 1906, the Wright brothers were granted a U.S. patent for their “Flying-Machine.” The Wright brothers’ patent included the use of a steerable rear vertical rudder, wing rapping and varying the angle of wing-tips.  Early aviators of the 20th century, such as Glenn Curtiss, went to great lengths to avoid paying licensing fees to the Wright brothers.  The result was a patent war that featured several legal battles.  The patent war ended in 1914 when a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a verdict against Glenn Curtiss’ aviation company.

The Wright brothers went on to improve upon the design of their original Flying-Machine and went on to create the first practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.  Despite the legal issues between the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, their two companies merged in 1929 to form the Curitss-Wright corporation.