Some Things Never Change.

In the 1890s, bicycles were all the rage, thanks to the demise of that awkward monstrosity with the big front wheel. Everybody was buying the new designs which used two identical wheels, and two brothers in Dayton, Ohio took advantage of the fashion by opening a successful bicycle repair shop featuring their own versions.

The two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright were interested also in what was commonly considered science fiction: a machine that would fly like a bird, so they spent all their spare time working tirelessly on the challenge.

Meanwhile, the U.S.War Department and the Smithsonian Institute funded their own experiments on the idea and Samuel Langley from the museum was in charge of the government money. While Orville and Wilbur were working on their experiments at Kitty Hawk, S,C. with their bicycle tools, Langley hired a team to put together his flying machine and a launch pad on the Potomac River in Washington (this might be considered the first aircraft carrier, except that there were no actual aircraft to carry). Both Langley flights ended up pretty much the same way:

Notice the downward trajectory of the "aeroplane" and its landing:

Back in Kitty Hawk a few days later, The Wright brothers celebrated a soft landing:

Cost to the taxpayer for the Langley flights: $70,000 (millions in today's dollars).

Cost of the Wright brothers' flights: $1,000 of their own money. Cost to the taxpayer: $0.00--zero.

Some things never change.