A family in Dayton

Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Their father, Milton, was a bishop who encouraged reading and curiosity, and their sister Katharine was a lifelong source of support. When the boys were young, their father brought home a small toy helicopter powered by a rubber band, which fascinated them.

Neither brother finished high school, but both were clever with machines. They ran a printing business and then a bicycle shop, where they learned to build and repair precise mechanical parts.