National Aviation Day was established as a national observation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to celebrate the development of aviation. The date of August 19 was designated in honor of Orville Wright's birthday (August 19, 1871 - which is also the birthday of sister Katherine Wright in 1874). The day is usually the occasion of events and activities that promote interest in aviation. With the current pandemic precaution in 2020, public celebrations may be limited, but there are still some museums open for visiting (with the usual precautions) - CLICK HERE to check the blog post about the current status of museums and attractions on the Aviation Trail. Contact information on the individual sites can be found on the "Trail Sites" page on this website.
This is also a good time to read more about the Wrights. Besides Wilbur and Orville, Katherine's support of their efforts also contributed greatly to aviation, along with many other accomplishments of her own. See the five links below for some interesting reading. The first two are online posts with interesting information about Katherine Wright, and the third about the brothers. The last two are reviews of books about the Wright brothers and flight.
