Gustave Albin Whitehead

It seems as though we, as a people, have been lied to, again.  This is not the first time, nor will it be the last but, this is what I call a doozie.

 

Back when dinosaurs roamed the planet and I was in school, I was told that there were nine planets, to include Pluto.  It was quite a disappointment to me that all that memorization of the planets – MVEMJSUNP – and their order, was for nothing.  It goes: My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, or Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

 

Yes, Pluto was included but, not any longer.  Some dweeb decided that Pluto is too small to be a planet so it was removed, although it is still there and still orbiting the Sun.  The bottom line: I was lied to.

 

Enter Gustave Albin Whitehead.  Mr. Whitehead was born in 1874 in Germany, and immigrated to the United States.  It seems as though Mr. Whitehead, who died in relative obscurity in 1927, is now at the center of some controversy.

 

Upon riding my chariot to school, I learned that Wilber and Orville Wright, otherwise known as the Wright Brothers, were the first people who flew a controlled aircraft.  Their flying machine was flown off the dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, some of the tallest sand dunes in the eastern United States.

 

This historical flight occurred in 1903 and was widely celebrated around the country as “a first in flight.”  I know this because the North Carolina license plate motto reads: “First in Flight.”

 

But, once again, I was lied to.  Ohio was the home to the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop where their flying machine was built.  In fact, Ohio’s license plate motto is “Birthplace of Aviation.”  I know; I read it.

 

Although technically correct, both North Carolina and Ohio can make those claims with impunity.  Unfortunately, the long-deceased Mr. Whitehead was the subject of a newspaper article that claims he piloted his flying machine several times in 1901 and 1902.

 

If you’re still reading and keeping score, Mr. Whitehead actually beat the Wilbur and Orville by two years.  This means that Connecticut, where Mr. Whitehead’s flight took place, wants to be known as “The Bestest First Flight Before North Carolina or That Other Place.”

 

Too bad Mr. Whitehead’s witnesses didn’t take any photos. 

 

Lucky for all of us, I have a new acronym to remember this controversy.  It goes like this:

WWABIFBTWBAIC.  Whitehead Was Actually Bestest In Flight Before The Wright Brothers, And In Connecticut.  Simple, isn’t it?

 

Being lied to is actually fun.