The dawn of the 20th century witnessed the initial, tentative attempts by man to fly. The first steps toward that elusive goal had been taken late in the previous century by visionary pioneers such as Germany's Otto Lilienthal, who had made thousands of successful flights in frail gliders and paved the way for others to follow. But at the beginning of the 20th century, technical solutions to the many problems of flight seemed unattainable, and thwarted man's ancient dream of navigating the sky at will.
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