Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 - January 30, 1948) was an American aviation pioneer who, along with his brother Wilbur Wright, invented and built the world’s first successful powered airplane. On December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville piloted the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered aircraft. The Wright brothers’ innovations in flight control and aerodynamics laid the foundation for modern aviation. Orville continued to work on aviation advancements after Wilbur’s death in 1912 and became a respected figure in the field until his own death in 1948.