Flight pioneer Santos-Dumont circa 1900 in Paris
pbs.org
pbs.org
Santos Dumont was not only a pioneer who flew his 14 bis in front of all Paris. He was a true humanist that believed that science and progress were forces for the good of mankind.
He was not into flying for profit or patents, heck, he even shared the plans for the demoiselle on popular magazines.
If you never read about this man and his life, I insist that you check out this program and the books quoted by nwatson. Its a great untold history. I remember crying when visiting Paris for the first time and seeing the little plaque about him for I remembered not only his achievements but his tragic life. There is a colorful story when he gets stuck with his balloon on top of a tree near the house of Princess Isabel who was the Princess of Brazil and lived in Paris. She sent her servants to the tree with food and champagne, Alberto said that he was not going down because he didn't wanted to share that marvelous champagne with other people =) from that day onwards they became very good friends, the flyer and the princess.
He was the only person to ever have lived the dream of personal unrestricted urban flight -- he'd fly his personal dirigible balloon all around Paris to visit friends, stop at restaurants and cafes. He was the real-life inspiration for much of what you see illustrated at http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/06/30/france-in-the-year-....
Here's a book I've been meaning to read about him: http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Madness-Alberto-Santos-Dumont-In....