Today, December 17, marks a momentous occasion in aviation history; in 1903, it was the day Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful flight in a powered aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Just 22 years later on this landmark day, barnstormer John Paul Riddle and businessman T. Higbee Embry struck a deal, laying the groundwork for Embry-Riddle Company, which would later evolve into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU).
Now the world’s largest institute of aerospace- and aviation-focused higher learning, ERAU has a rich history, formed by the multifaceted nature of the early company.
Embry-Riddle Company’s founders were entrepreneurs, seeking to promote aviation by any profitable means; this included airmail carriers, aircraft sales, thrill rides, flight school, performing in air shows and transporting passengers in the empty seats of their air-mail carriers.
Throughout 2016, ERAU will celebrate its 90th anniversary, which will culminate at its Wings & Waves Air Show over the ocean in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 8-9.
Learn more about the university’s history and its plans throughout the year at erau.edu/90.
