06/17/2026
As we continue our countdown of the Top 30 Most Influential and Important Americans, we come to number 17: The Wright Brothers.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were bicycle makers, inventors, and pioneers who changed the future of human movement.
In 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they achieved the first successful powered, controlled, sustained flight. In that moment, the sky opened.
Their breakthrough did more than launch an airplane. It launched the aviation age.
The Wright Brothers’ work reshaped travel, commerce, warfare, exploration, and global connection. Their invention eventually transformed how Americans crossed the country, defended the nation, delivered goods, conducted business, and saw the world.
They proved that disciplined experimentation, mechanical skill, persistence, and courage could turn the impossible into reality.
That is why the Wright Brothers belong in this countdown.
America has always been shaped by people who looked at limits and saw opportunity. Orville and Wilbur Wright looked at the sky and believed mankind could rise.
Their contribution helped make the United States a leader in engineering, aviation, innovation, and modern transportation.
For that reason, we honor the Wright Brothers as number 17 on our list of the Top 30 Most Influential and Important Americans.
Orville Wright
1871–1948
Wilbur Wright
1867–1912
Aviators. Inventors. Pioneers.
The dawn of flight. The sky opened.