Connecticut Names Gustave Whitehead First in Flight

Stephen Pope

Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 09:31 PM ET

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** Gustave Whitehead**

Key Takeaways:

Connecticut legislators passed a bill recognizing Gustave Whitehead, not the Wright Brothers, as the first to achieve powered flight, specifically for flights north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.
This action reignites a long-standing historical debate, fueled by new evidence like a 1901 lithograph and eyewitness accounts, with *Jane's All the World's Aircraft* now supporting Whitehead's claim.
The claim is highly contentious, facing strong opposition from institutions like the Smithsonian and the state of North Carolina, who continue to uphold the Wright Brothers' primacy in aviation history.

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It’s a debate that could ignite a feud between the North and South. This week Connecticut legislators passed a bill that includes a paragraph buried within its text stating that Gustave Whitehead and not the Wright Brothers should be recognized as the first to fly — at least north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

North Carolina already claims Kitty Hawk as the rightful birthplace of aviation, and most historians recognize Orville and Wilbur’s famous feat as being the first manned powered, heavier-than-air flight.