Dayton:  Birthplace of Aviation and Innovation
Creativity That Changed The World, From The Pop-Top To Poetry, Was Born Here

DAYTON, OHIO—Orville and Wilbur Wright's fascination with flight began with an 1878 toy whirligig given to them by their father.  That gift ultimately led the Dayton-born brothers to give the world the gift of flight, and the city continues to be home of innovators who have created everything from the stepladder to cellophane tape to space food.

Among Dayton's famous inventors and their inventions:

John Balsley - Stepladder
Carl Carlson - Microfiche
Dr. William Hale Church - Waterproof Cellophane
E.R. Churchwell - Portable Crib
Leland Clark - Human heart-lung machine
Luzern Custer - Motorized wheelchairs
E.T. Fraze - Pull tab and pop top beverage cans
Arthur Frei - Ice cube tray with ejector mechanism
Barrett Green - Micro-Encapsulation
C. Francis Jenkins - Movie projector, movie camera and film, movie theater                       Charles Kettering - Electric self-starter for automobiles
Thomas Midgely - Ethyl leaded gasoline and Freon
James Ritty  - Cash register
Daniel Webster Schaeffer - Gas masks
Floyd Smith - Modern Parachute

Many other artists, athletes, actors and authors have called Dayton home, including poet laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar, actor Martin Sheen, cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, comedian Jonathan Winters, authors John Jakes and Erma Bombeck, talk show host Phil Donahue, Olympic track star Edwin C. Moses, and basketball star Jim Paxson.

The city honors its rich heritage in a variety of ways.  Edwin Moses Boulevard and Erma Bombeck Way are major local thoroughfares.  Paul Laurence Dunbar's home is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.  A restored Packard showroom from the 1930s is the only museum dedicated to the classic Packard automobile.  A tribute to Dayton's more distant past is on display at SunWatch Indian Village, which depicts daily life of the Fort Ancient Indians, who inhabited much of the Miami Valley roughly 800 years ago.

In 2003, Dayton commemorated the centennial anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight into history with a yearlong celebration which included an international arts festival, history and educational events, and the largest air show the world had ever seen.
For more information about Dayton's inventors and their inventions, please contact the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-221-8235 or www.daytoncvb.com.  The Bureau, an independent non-profit organization funded by a county-wide customer hotel/motel bed tax, markets Dayton as a site for conventions, group meetings, trade shows, motorcoach tours and the leisure traveler.