| 1749 |
Alexander Wilson flew a kite train to record air temperatures at different altitudes. |
| 1752 |
Ben Franklin proved there was electricity in lightning. |
| 1804 |
George Cayley developed the concept of heavier-than-air flight. His glider was a modified arch top kite. |
| 1827 |
George Pocock used kites to pull a horseless carriage. |
| 1847 |
A kite flown by Homan Walsh, age 10, aided in the construction of a suspension bridge across the Niagara River. |
| 1893 |
The Eddy Diamond and the Hargraves Box raised scientific instruments for weather research. |
| 1899 |
The Wright Brothers used kites to test their theories for the first flying machine (airplane). |
| 1901 |
Guglielmo Marconi used a kite to lift an aerial to make his historical radio link between North America and Europe. |
| 1902 |
The French Military (Conyne) Kite raised military observers. |
| 1903 |
The Wright Brothers flew the first manned flying machine. A kite train towed S.F.Cody across the English Channel. |
| 1906 |
Kites carried a camera aloft to take aerial photographs of the damage caused by the San Francisco earthquake. |
| 1907 |
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell flew a man carrying kite made up of over 3,000 tetrahedral cells. |
| 1919 |
A German flew a kite train to an altitude of 31,955 feet. |
| 1939 – 1945 |
The Gibson Girl Box, Garber’s Target Kite and Saul’s Barrage Kite were all used in World War II. |
| 1948 |
Francis Rogallo patented his Flexi-wing kite. It was the forerunner of the hang glider and delta kite. |
| 1954 |
William Allison, Dayton, Ohio, received a patent on HIS “Flexible Flyer”, which we now call the SLED Kite and reproduce by the thousands in kite workshops all over the world. Ed Graeul called it a Basic Kite Form. (one of only 7) |
| 1964 |
Domina Jalbert designed the parafoil. His concepts have been adapted for parachutes and kites. |
| 1975 |
Peter Powell introduced his dual line stunt kite. |
| 1978 |
Kuzuhiko Asaba flew 4,128 kites on a single line. |
| 1989 |
Kite flying becomes a sport with the establishment of a National Stunt Kite Circuit. The “California Swept Wing” Stunt Kite has had the greatest influence on stunt flying. |
