Proclamation 4404—Wright Brothers Day, 1975

On December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, two brothers made the first successful flight in a heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled airplane they had designed and built after years of experimentation.

Through ingenuity and courage, Orville and Wilbur Wright revolutionized transportation. In the 72 years since their epic flight, aviation and space technology has contributed to closer ties among the peoples of the world by inspiring 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, 36 U.S.C. 169), 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, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby invite the people of this Nation, and their local and national government officials, to observe Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 1975, 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 twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundredth.

GERALD R. FORD