Icarus falling to his death, his wings having disintegrated when he flew too close to the sun.

One of the oldest and best-known legends of flight is that of Dædalus and Icarus, which may well contain a grain of truth. Dædalus had made two pairs of wings with feathers and wax which he and his son Icarus were going to escape from King Mino's labyrinth at Crete. During the flight, Icarus went too close to the sun, the wax melted and his wings disintegrated, whereupon he plummeted to his death in the Aegean Sea. Dædalus continued his escape, eventually landing in Cumæ. It is conceivable that Icarus tried to fly from Crete wearing a pair of wings, and plunged straight to his death. Dædalus, who is credited with inventing the sail, may then have effected his escape by boat. Over the centuries, storytellers would fabricate and embellish the legend.

'Professor' Baldwin, demonstrating a vice-like grip, prepares to land after descending 7000 feet (2,135 m).

In the 1880s 'Professor' Baldwin, an American aeronaught, became well known for his daring parachute jumps. The picture shows one such jump he made in 1888 at Alexandra Palace in London where he ascended to 7000 feet beneath a balloon before sliding off the rope seat and descending under the parachute — an incredibly brave thing to do given the rudimentary nature of his apparatus.

The historic first flight of the Wright Flyer on 17 December 1903. Orville Wright is at the controls while Wilbur runs along beside — an indication of the slow ground speed. The position from which the Flyer started its take off run is marked by the outline of the wing made by footprints in the sand. While stationary, the Flyer's wing was clamped to the bench at the end of the footprint outline.