The first power-driven heavier-than-air vehicle to achieve continuous flight

starting track on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and soared through the air for 120 feet in 12 seconds. Despite its brief duration, this flight heralded the beginning of man's aerial conquest.

At the take-off, Orville Wright was at the controls, while Wilbur Wright balanced the craft. This photograph captures an epochal occurrence witnessed by only seven men: the Wright brothers and five others who, more than they realised, were on the precipice of history that day.