History teaches that Wilbur and Orville Wright successfully performed the first motorized human flight on December 17, 1903.
But were they the first to do so?
For years, there has been an alternative theory about a little-known inventor in New Zealand named Richard Pearse. Proponents of Pearse hold that he successfully covered about 350 yards in his motorized airplane on March 31, 1902-- about a year and a half before the Wright brothers' famous experiments at Kitty Hawk.
Evidence to corroborate Pearse's accomplishments remain vague. There were only a handful of eyewitness accounts, and Pearse, himself, did not document his experiments very well. (Wikipedia accounts of Pearse are rife with "citation needed" tags.) Despite this, Pearse is recognized throughout New Zealand and Australia as one of true pioneers of early flight-- and as the true discoverer of powered flight by many. The national government of New Zealand has even celebrating his accomplishments by erecting state monuments and postage stamps in his honor.
Have we been miscrediting the Wright brothers for inventing human powered flight all this time while forgetting about the true inventor of flight, Richard Pearse?
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Thanks to mcb1 for pointing this out. 
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