Proclamation 4174—Wright Brothers Day, 1972

In the spring of 1900, a bicycle maker named Wilbur Wright wrote to a friend: "For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible for man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life."

Orville and Wilbur Wright followed their belief "that flight is possible for man", in spite of ridicule, danger, hardship, and failure, to a thin strip of sand on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. There, on December 17, 1903, Wilbur tossed a coin with his brother, lost the toss, and watched as Orville made the first successful flight in a mechanically-propelled airplane. Through the courage, the genius, and the tenacity of the Wright brothers, man was no longer earth-bound.

That epic flight sixty-nine years ago made the world a smaller place, brought men and nations into closer proximity through trade and travel, and opened the doors to the Universe.

To commemorate the historic achievements of the Wright brothers, the Congress, by a joint resolution of December 17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402), designated the seventeenth day of December of each year as Wright Brothers Day and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of this Nation, and the local and national government officials, to observe Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 1972, with appropriate ceremonies and activities, both to recall the accomplishments of the Wright brothers and to provide a stimulus to aviation in this country and throughout the world.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-seventh.

RICHARD NIXON