The Wright brothers story is well worth reading up on. The director of the Smithsonian refused to believe them, and championed an alternate "first powered flight" for a long time. This is why at least one Wright flyer wound up in the Science Museum in London. It only got fixed after he died/retired.

The lack of history on display in the Air & Space Museum on this, is quite interesting: it's like the whole "tell the truth, the whole truth" thing completely passed them by (Admittedly I was last there 15 years ago, it may be fixed now)