Clément Ader

Born at Muret[?] in Haute Garonne, he originally studied electrical engineering, and in 1878 improved the telephone, recently invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

But his primary interest was in flight. In 1886 he constructed the Eole, a bat-like aircraft powered by a steam engine driving a four-blade propeller. Witnesses claimed to have seen it fly a short distance, but it was wrecked in the attempt.

A second effort in 1890, the Avion, was claimed to have flown 320 feet and up to 60 feet in the air, but it was deemed a failure nevertheless, and a third design in 1897 failed as well. At this point the French government withdrew its funding, but kept the results secret, only reporting them as successful flights after the Wright brothers made their flight.

Aviation historians now discredit any claims of priority, since the flights all ended in crashes, but Ader was still admired for his efforts; in 1938 France issued a postage stamp honoring him.