Proclamation 6084—Wright Brothers Day, 1989

Less than a century ago, Orville and Wilbur Wright ushered in the age of modern aviation with the first sustained, manned flight in a mechanically propelled aircraft. Although their flight lasted only 12 seconds and spanned only 120 feet over the windy beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, it began an exciting process of design, trial, and discovery that continues to this day.

Today, as we recall the historic events of that cold, windy December afternoon in 1903, we also celebrate the tremendous progress in aviation that has been made during the past 87 years. Advances in air transportation have linked nations and continents, bringing the peoples of the world ever closer together. Man has journeyed into space, and American astronauts have walked on the moon. Now we are shaping further plans for manned space flight beyond Earth's orbit and into the solar system.

By the end of this year, Americans will have used commercial aircraft more than 475 million times to travel around the country and around the world. Only 86 years after the Wright brothers took to the skies with their bold yet tentative flight, we are able to travel millions of miles with confidence and ease.

On Wright Brothers Day, we salute all the courageous pioneers who, with vision and determination, have made these great advances possible. In so doing, they have not only helped make American aviation a model for the world but also led the way to the exploration of our universe.

The Congress, by a joint resolution approved December 17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 169), has designated the 17th 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, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 17, 1989, as Wright Brothers Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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

GEORGE BUSH