On September 13th 1757, John Childs completed the first flight in America. Tethered to a rope, and attached to a feathered glider, he flew about 700 feet from the steeple of the Old North Church to the ground. He had placed advertisements in the Boston Gazette preceding the event, and many spectators attended. Brandishing pistols on his third flight, and with local business completely disrupted in the area, the town leaders barred him from any more sorties... An account of the flights was published in the September 23rd 1757 issue of the New-Hampshire Gazette: "[Last] Tuesday in the afternoon John...
