Proclamation 4699—Wright Brothers Day, 1979

The age of aviation began on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when two bicycle makers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, made the first successful flight in an airplane. This achievement brought little acclaim to the Wright Brothers at the time. Today, however, we know it as one of the most important events in our modern world.

The spirit of the Wright Brothers lives on. The same American ingenuity and persistence has recently been displayed again in the first successful man-powered flight across the English Channel. In June of this year, Bryan Allen pedaled for almost three hours to propel the Gossamer Albatross, a 60-pound polyester-bodied aircraft designed by Paul MacCready, a distance of 22 miles.

The same spirit has led to the phenomenal development of aviation since the Wright Brothers' first successful flight 76 years ago. Aviation is one of the most important industries in America today, both for jobs and services provided. United States aircraft manufacturers currently have orders for over 1,000 jet transports, and scheduled traffic for United States domestic and international flights this year will exceed 300 million passengers for the first time.

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 a proclamation annually inviting people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of this Nation, and their local and national governmental officials, to observe Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 1979, 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 second day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER