Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make welldocumented, repeated, successful gliding flights. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favorably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical. On August 9, 1896, his glider stalled and he was unable to regain control. Falling from about 15160m , he broke his neck and died the next day,August, 1896.

Lilienthal was born onMay 1848 in Anklam, Pomerania Province, German kingdom of Prussia. According to his birth certificate, his parents were Carl Gustav, a merchant, and Caroline Wilhemina ne Pohle. They belonged to the St. Nikolai evangelical church community in Anklam, where he later attended grammar school, and where he eventually studied the flight of birds with his brother Gustav . Fascinated by the idea of manned flight, Lilienthal and his brother made strapon wings, but failed in their attempts to fly. He then attended the regional technical school in Potsdam for two years and trained at the Schwarzkopf Company before becoming a professional design engineer. He would later attend the Royal Technical Academy in Berlin.

Source: Wikipedia