Orville and Wilbur, the Wright brothers, are given credit for the first airplane flight, in 1903, in the United States. However, inventors in Italy and Russia also have some claim to making the first airplane flight, due to differences in measurements and recording techniques. Technically, the Wright brothers are credited with the first powered, sustained, controlled flight of a heavier-than-air machine. The first known flight by a human was by the Marquis d'Arlandes in France in 1783 using a hot-air balloon (a lighter-than-air craft). The first woman known to fly was Leila Marie Cody in England in 1902, using a huge kite. (Some people, however, think ancient nations like the Inca might have used gliders, kites or balloons.) Otto Lilienthal of Germany was another aviation pioneer, using gliders, and the most famous flyer of his day. His gliders, considering the differences in construction materials, are very similar to modern hang gliders. Lilienthal, killed in a glider accident in 1896, made sustained flights using a heavier-than-air craft, but as his accident showed, control problems still had to be worked out. The Wright brothers were much influenced by Lilienthal's work and their first craft was essentially a glider with a small engine.

The first flight, made December 17, 1903, was not impressive by today's standards. The aircraft barely got off the ground, flew just ten seconds and covered 120 feet (about 40 metres). Four flights were made that day, the final one lasting 57 seconds and covering 852 feet. The Wright brothers' most important contributions to airplane design was designing an effective propeller and a workable rudder to give their aircraft more control than possible with a balloon, kite or even a glider. However, European industry and designers soon overtook the Americans, led by pioneers like A.V. Roe of Britain, Louis Bleriot of France and Antony Fokker of the Netherlands. US aircraft design and manufacture would not catch up again until the Second World War.

Shortly after the end of the war in 1918, airline passenger travel became established, although the numbers of people carried were small compared to today. Of more importance, at least in the two decades after the war, was the automobile. Henry Ford introduced new industrial techniques, mass production and the assembly line, which allowed automobiles to be made in large numbers and at a low enough cost that large numbers of working people could afford them. This was the famous Model T car. Even during the 1920s, the horse was still the common mode of transport for most people, but by the end of the 1930s, the automobile had taken over the lead. The mass production revolution, just like the micro-chip revolution of today, resulted in the elimination of thousands of traditional skilled jobs.

In 1929, the Wall Street "Crash" happened. The Crash was a collapse in the prices of shares on the New York stock exchange. Large numbers of people who had bought shares, using borrowed money, lost all their money and this led to an economic depression that eventually spread all the way around the world. Combined with the loss of traditional jobs due to assembly-line mass production, unemployment and poverty grew to high levels. Only the economic depression of the early 1990s would see levels of unemployment match such levels again. There is a lesson here that the advantages of technological invention are not necessarily shared by society as a whole.

Frank Lloyd Wright designs some of the most famous buildings of the 20th century during this time and becomes one of the best known architects of all time. His designs stressed function and simple lines, as opposed to the extremely ornate buildings of the Victorian period.

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