The First Flight Around the World

August, sometime in the 500s BCE. In Athens, the Great Panathenaia is in full swing: chariot races, boat races, a hundred cattle slaughtered for the feast. And at the center of it, a competition in which performers recite the work of one poet, and one poet only: Homer. But nobody ...  Show more

August 17, 1858. New York City wakes to a hundred-gun salute. Church bells ring, flags fly from public buildings, and by nightfall, fireworks light up the sky. The city is celebrating a telegram from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan. Not what it says, but how it traveled: alo ...  Show more

In mythology from around the world the ability to fly was reserved strictly for the gods. Stories about human beings constructing flying machines were usually punctuated with a moral about hubris. Vain attempts at flight were an easy metaphor for the limits of human ingenuity. Ev ...  Show more

Today we take to the friendly skies to detail the fascinating history of air travel. From planes with piano bars and lounges to the current no frills varieties. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

This 2017 episode covers the Wright Brothers, yes, but also other contenders to the title of "first in flight," and each has their own compelling story and list of achievements.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Wright Brothers changed history when they took the world's first engine-powered flight. It didn't take long for countries around the world to realise that the Wright flying machine had the potential to revolutioni ...  Show more