The Fall of Icarus
Peter Paul Rubens, 1636

Humanity has long wanted to fly. Our ancestors looked up and saw birds soaring through the sky, and naturally said "I want to do that too!" This sense of wonder can be found in different forms of mythology around the world. For example, the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, jumping from a tower and soaring through the sky. Hermes’ feet and hat had winds, and Pegasus was a horse that could fly. The Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda is depicted as having a huge set of wings.

Depiction of Ahura Mazda in Iran. Image via Encyclopedia Britannica, from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute

Let’s take a look at ancient China first. They didn’t get any people up in the air, but they did create some interesting flying machines. Take the kite, for example. It is believed to have been invented in China during the 5th century BC. Used to aid in military communication, it was initially made from bamboo and silk, but then paper when it was invented during the Han dynasty. As the cost of kites decreased, its use became more widespread and to this day remains a beautiful form of Chinese arts and crafts.

Consider also the sky lantern, the earliest form of a hot air balloon. It too was invented in China and uses a small flame in the bottom of what is essentially a large paper bag. This was also used for military communication. Like the kite, the use of the lantern has transformed, and people now appreciate the lantern as a symbol of hope and wonder.

A sky lantern festival in Taiwan
Image by Yunjie Liao, via Al Jazeera

Mikhail Zarezin's drawing of Ibn Firnas and his glider

During the Islamic Golden Age were the first recorded attempts of human flight. A man named Armen Firman used a large cloak to jump off of a tower in Cordoba in the year 852. The cloak acted like a glider/parachute which slowed him down enough that he survived with only minor injuries.

A young man named Abbas ibn Firnas watched Firman make his tower jump and was inspired to build his own glider. In 875, Firnas made a mostly successful flight, except for the landing in which he hurt his back. Today, a statue of him rests outside of Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

During the renaissance, European inventors took a stab at flying. Notably, Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with the idea of a human powered flying machine. Da Vinci made detailed studies and attempts at a human powered ornithopter and a new invention called the Aerial Screw. Modern scientists agree that his machines would not be physically feasible for multiple reasons, but his detailed studies and experiments represent a systematic, scientific approach to human flight.

Another renaissance man, Francesco Lana de Terzi, was inspired by mathematicians and physicists of his time in the 17th century. Rather than birds, de Terzi was inspired by boats. Indeed, he designed a flying boat that used vacuumed air from copper spheres to rise off the ground.

Da Vinci's flying machines: (1) human powered ornithopter (2) Aerial Screw

Part of a 1909 postcard drawn by A. Molynk, commemorating de Terzi's flying airship

His design was never built and scientists agree that it couldn't have, given the technology available to him. However, his work paved the way for the development of future lighter-than-air aircraft like balloons.

For many of the achievements mentioned above, one might question whether they should be considered "aviation". Although something like a sky lantern might not seem to have anything to do with an airplane, the observations and questioning that stemmed from these inventions helped people to better understand how air works, and imagine how they might go about designing something that could fly.