17 December 1903
Waning Crescent, 2% lit
The Wright brothers fly
The first powered flight lasted twelve seconds, under a moon two days from new and effectively invisible.
Five people watched. The Wrights sent a telegram home asking their father to inform the press; the local paper in Dayton decided a 59-second flight was not news.
- Date
- 17 December 1903
- Moon computed for
- 10:00 local time, UTC−5
- Phase
- Waning Crescent
- Illuminated
- 2%
Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum