Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1920 — Arabian Inventor Said to Have Been First to Devise Airplane and Make Flight [ARTICLE]

Arabian Inventor Said to Have Been First to Devise Airplane and Make Flight

Abbas Ben Farnas, an Arabian inventor, it is said, was the first human being to invent and fly an airplane. He died as a result of his first flight in the year 783 A. D., during the reign of the Caliph Haroun al Raschld, history records. Abbas is supposed to have conceived the Idea of effecting mechanical flight as a means of approaching the heavens and aiding astronomical observations, from historical documents still In existence In Bagdad. With the consent and assistance of the Caliph he set to work to construct a machine In the likeness of a bird, with a clockwork motor to actuate the wings. In the presence of a great multitude Abbas actually effected a flight which lasted several seconds, but In landing his machine was wrecked, and the Inventor was hurled headlong against a tree and killed instantly. The secret of the construction of the first airplane died with the inventor. The Caliph al Raschld offered huge Inducements to other eminent scientists to pursue the study of aviation, but none was found with sufficient genius to repeat the pioneer flyer’s exploit