Posted on 04/05/2026 8:55:16 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
The story behind the New York Times’ 1903 claim that human flight was between one and ten million years away is even worse than it looks.
Once you understand the backstory, you realize that the New York Times story is not really about flight at all but about how elites and credentialed “experts” mistake their own failures for the boundaries of possibility.
The New York Times did not dismiss the possibility of powered flight at random. There was a very specific reason behind it. At the time, America’s most prominent scientific authority, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Langley, had been showered with large amounts of taxpayer funding to build an aircraft, the Langley Aerodrome. Despite all the money, institutional backing, and elite prestige, Langley and his team could not get it to fly, culminating in a series of very public failures, the last on December 8, 1903.
So when the New York Times declared that flight was millions of years away, what it was really saying was that if the most credentialed and well-funded “experts” cannot do it, then it cannot be done.
A mere nine days later, the elites’ proclamation of impossibility lay in ruins. Two totally unknown bicycle mechanics from Ohio achieved the first powered flight using improvised parts, a few hundred dollars of their own money, and sheer persistence.
The story of flight is, at its core, a story of the triumph of American individualism over elite credentialism. The fact that it was the New York Times that inadvertently delivered the proof is the most fitting conclusion imaginable.
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
The North Carolina license plates that say “First in Flight” are a little irritating. The Wright brothers only went there because it was consistently windy at that particular spot.
1. Explaining your whole plan to the hero right before you kill him. Heroes invariably escape and live to thwart your plan.
2. Having a clearly marked and easily accessible self-destruct button in your fortress hideout or master weapon.
3. Avoid hiring stupid henchmen. Ask for resumes and references.
4. Having a talking pet who will spill the beans to the hero.
5. Having a beautiful lonely daughter who will fall in love with the hero, help him escape, and end up dying.
6. Engaging in extended witty repartee with the hero giving his sidekick time to come to the hero's rescue and destroy your plans.
7. Engage in maniacal laughter. It is distracting, wastes time, and accomplishes little.
8. Giving extended ultimatums. Just do it.
9. Wearing flowing costumes or capes that could get caught in the machinery of your own doomsday device.
10. Insisting on being present to witness your "final triumph."
11.When setting up a device to kill the hero, do not insist on long timers. The shorter the better.
12. Avoid supplying clues and puzzles for your adversaries to figure out your plans.
IOW, any Batman (1960s TV) episode!
The “experts” sucked then, too.
The NY Slimes: shamelessly distorting the truth since 1851.
😆
I thought the headline meant that one day we’d all have wings.
I’m very disappointed.
😂
💯
The NY Times... “The paper of Blowhards”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
