Lincoln Beachey (1887–1915) was 16 years old when Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted the world’s first plane flight. Beachey, born in San Francisco, was on the opposite side of the continent when the Wright brothers achieved the historic feat; but via telegraph cables, news traveled fast. Beachey—however, wherever, and exactly whenever he learned about aviation—became hooked on the idea of flying. Before his short life was over, he would be considered the world’s greatest aviator.
San Francisco had boomed since the Gold Rush, and by the time Beachey was born, the city’s population was approximately 250,000, making it one of the country’s 10 largest cities. Despite the opportunities that came with a thriving city, the teenaged Beachey set his sights eastward to Ohio.
