man to make an aeroplane flight.

Wilbur Wright, coming over to Europe, made his first appearance on the
Continent with a flight of 1 3/4 minutes at Hunaudieres, France, on
August 8th, 1908. On September 6th, at Chalons, he flew for 1 hour 4
minutes 26 seconds with a passenger, this being the first flight in
which an hour in the air was exceeded with a passenger on board.

On September 12th 1908, Orville Wright, flying at Fort Meyer, U.S.A.,
with Lieut. Selfridge as passenger, crashed his machine, suffering
severe injuries, while Selfridge was killed. This was the first
aeroplane fatality. On October 30th, 1908, Farman made the first
cross-country flight, covering the distance of 17 miles between Bouy and
Rheims. The next day, Louis Bleriot, in flying from Toury to Artenay,
made two landings en route, this being the first cross-country flight
with landings. On the last day of the year, Wilbur Wright won the
Michelin Cup at Auvours with a flight of 90 miles, which, lasting 2
hours 20 minutes 23 seconds, exceeded 2 hours in the air for the first
time.

On January 2nd, 1909, S. F. Cody opened the New Year by making the first
observed flight at Farnborough on a British Army aeroplane. It was not
until July 18th of 1909 that the first European height record deserving
of mention was put up by Paulhan, who achieved a height of 450 feet on a
Voisin biplane. This preceded Latham's first attempt to fly the Channel
by two days, and five days later, on the 25th of the month, Bleriot made
the first Channel crossing. The Rheims Meeting followed on August 22nd,
and it was a great day for aviation when nine machines were seen in
the air at once. It was here that Farman, with a 118 mile flight,
first exceeded the hundred miles, and Latham raised the height record
officially to 500 feet, though actually he claimed to have reached 1,200
feet. On September 8th, Cody, flying from Aldershot, made a 40 mile
journey, setting up a new cross-country record. On October 19th the
Comte de Lambert flew from Juvisy to Paris, rounded the Eiffel Tower and
flew back. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon made the first circular mile flight
by a British aviator on an all-British machine in Great Britain, on
October 30th, flying a Short biplane with a Green engine. Paulhan,
flying at Brooklands on November 2nd, accomplished 96 miles in 2 hours
48 minutes, creating a British distance record; on the following
day, Henry Farman made a flight of 150 miles in 4 hours 22 m