Proclamation 4336—Wright Brothers Day, 1974

On December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright revolutionized transportation in America and the world. The two brothers made the first successful flight in a heavier-than-air, mechanically-propelled airplane designed and built by them after years of difficult experimentation.

In the 71 years since their epic flight, aviation and space technology has contributed to closer ties among the peoples of the world by igniting their imagination, promoting commerce, and encouraging travel.

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 each December as Wright Brothers Day. It requested that the President issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of this Nation, and their local and national government officials, to observe Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 1974, with appropriate ceremonies and activities to recall the accomplishments of the Wright brothers and to encourage further aviation advances in this country and throughout the world.

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

GERALD R. FORD