Editing History of aviation (section)

===Tower jumping===
[[File:Daedalus und Ikarus MK1888.png|thumb|[[Daedalus]] working on [[Icarus]]' wings]]
Since ancient times, there have been stories of men strapping birdlike wings, stiffened cloaks, or other devices to themselves and attempting to fly, typically by jumping off a tower. The Greek legends of [[Daedalus and Icarus#Daedalus and Icarus|Daedalus]] and [[Icarus]] are some of the earliest known.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wells|first1=H. G.|title=The Outline of History: Volume 1|date=1961|publisher=Doubleday|page=153}}</ref> Others originated in ancient Asia<ref>[[Book of Han]], Biography of Wang Mang, 或言能飞, 一日千里, 可窥匈奴.莽辄试之, 取大鸟翮为两翼, 头与身皆著毛, 通引环纽, 飞数百步堕</ref> and the European Middle Ages. During this early period, the concepts of lift, stability, and control were not well understood, and most attempts resulted in serious injuries or death.

The [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] scientist [[Abbas ibn Firnas]] (810–887 AD) attempted to fly in [[Córdoba, Spain]], by covering his body with [[vulture]] feathers and attached two wings to his arms.<ref name="LynnWhite" /><ref name=SA>{{cite journal |title=First Flights |journal=[[Saudi Aramco World]] |date=January–February 1964 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=8–9 |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196401/first.flights.htm |access-date=8 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503200416/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/196401/first.flights.htm |archive-date=3 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 17th-century [[Algeria]]n historian [[Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari]], quoting a poem by [[Muhammad I of Córdoba]]'s 9th-century court poet Mu'min ibn Said, recounts that Firnas flew some distance before landing with some injuries, attributed to his lacking a tail (as birds use them to land).<ref name="LynnWhite">[[Lynn Townsend White, Jr.]] (Spring, 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", ''Technology and Culture'' '''2''' (2), pp. 97–111 [101]</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Moolman |first=Valerie |title=The road to Kitty Hawk |date=1980 |publisher=Time-Life Books |others=Time-Life Books |isbn=978-0-8094-3260-8 |series=The Epic of flight |location=Alexandria, Va}}</ref> In the 12th century, [[William of Malmesbury]] wrote that [[Eilmer of Malmesbury]], an 11th-century Benedictine monk, attached wings to his hands and feet and flew a short distance,<ref name="LynnWhite" /> but broke both legs while landing, also having neglected to make himself a tail.<ref name=":2" />

Many others made well-documented jumps in the following centuries. As late as 1811, [[Albrecht Berblinger]] constructed an [[ornithopter]] and jumped into the [[Danube]] at Ulm.{{sfn|Wragg|1974|p=}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}