This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

On December 17, 1903, three days after an unsuccessful first attempt, Wilbur and Orville Wright lugged their new flyer to a beach in Kitty Hawk. With Orville as pilot, the plane took off from its monorail runway and flew over 120 feet of beach for a total of 12 seconds. In three more attempts that day, the brothers managed two flights of about 200 feet each and another - the longest - of 852 feet in 59 seconds.

In 1988, the Wright Brothers' flight was recreated in Kitty Hawk. Burt Glinn...