Proclamation 5750—Wright Brothers Day, 1987

On December 17, 1903, on the beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright ushered in the age of modern aviation with an accomplishment unprecedented in history—a manned flight in a powered, winged aircraft. Aviation has progressed much since that all-important first step; man has not only spanned the globe with air travel but has also reached into space, and Americans have set foot on the moon.

This year more than 450 million American passengers will use aircraft, the world's fastest and safest transportation. In the 84 years since the Wright Brothers' first flight, American aviation, in cooperation with the Federal government, has continued to improve the safety and the efficiency of air travel. Thanks to both industry and the Federal Aviation Administration, this effort goes on today.

On Wright Brothers Day we recall and revere not only the ability and the inventiveness of Wilbur and Orville Wright but also the unshakable conviction that led them into the skies and into history's pantheon of explorers, discoverers, and benefactors of mankind.

The Congress, by a joint resolution approved December 17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 169), has 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, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 17, 1987, as Wright Brothers Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, both to recall the achievements of the Wright Brothers and to stimulate aviation in this country and throughout the world.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.

RONALD REAGAN