A Colorized Look at Wilbur and Orville Wright

March 19, 2022

Everyone knows Wilbur and Orville Wright’s names and how, on a blustery day in 1903, they flew the first airplane off a sand dune at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The brothers from Ohio had a close relationship and a love of mechanical things. There is more to Orville and Wilbur Wright than the 12 seconds of airtime that made them household names. 

Orville and Wilbur Wright in a colorized photo from the early 1900s. (greenlightrights.com)

In this collection of colorized photos, we get a rare glimpse at the Wright Brothers and their lives before and after their famous plane ride. 

A Humble Upbringing

Wilbur and Orville Wright with Flyer II at Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio, USA, May 1, 1904Artist NASA. (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Wilbur and Orville Wright were two of the seven children born to Milton and Susan Wright. Wilbur is the older brother. He was born in 1867. Orville was born in 1871. They had two older siblings and three younger ones. The brothers were very close growing up, in part because they were both curious kids with a knack for mechanics.