On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered flight in a simple plane he built with his brother Wilbur. The flight, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, lasted just 12 seconds and covered only 120 feet. The brothers made three additional flights that day; on the longest, Wilbur kept the plane aloft for 59 seconds and traveled 852 feet. The brothers began experimenting with flight in 1896 at their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They chose the beach at Kitty Hawk to test their craft, initially only a glider, because the constant winds added lift.

In other news of 1903:

• Supported by U.S. warships, Panama declared independence from Colombia and cleared the way for construction of the Panama Canal.
• Ford Motors was incorporated by Henry Ford.
• Two New Yorkers, Frank Farrell and Bill Devery, bought the Baltimore baseball franchise for $18,000 and moved it to New York, where they renamed it the Highlanders. In 1913, the team’s name was changed again – to the Yankees.
• Baseball's National and American Leagues made peace and agreed to have their champions meet in a World Series. In the first Fall Classic, the Boston Americans, forerunners of today’s Red Sox, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5 games to 3.
• The first Tour de France bicycle race was held.
• The first transcontinental auto trip began in San Francisco and arrived in New York three months later.
• Joseph Pulitzer donated $1 million to Columbia University to establish the Pulitzer Prizes.
• Colorado Governor James Peabody sent the state militia to the town of Cripple Creek to break up a gold miners' strike.
• The Philadelphia Phillies suffered through nine consecutive postponements – a record. When they finally got to play, they walked 17 Brooklyn batters in a single game.

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