Which Brazilian aviator made the first powered flight in Europe in 1906?

Alberto Santos-Dumont was the Brazilian aviator who made the first officially recognized powered airplane flights in Europe in 1906. Flying his biplane, the 14-bis, near Paris, he helped turn heavier-than-air aviation into a public spectacle.

On October 23, 1906, Santos-Dumont flew more than 50 meters at Bagatelle, winning the Deutsch-Archdeacon Prize for a flight exceeding 25 meters. On November 12, he went farther, covering about 220 meters in 21–22 seconds. That flight won an Aéro-Club de France prize for exceeding 100 meters.

The wording matters because the Wright brothers had already achieved powered flights in the United States in 1903. Their early flights were not widely accepted or witnessed by European aviation authorities at the time. Santos-Dumont’s flights were publicly observed, officially documented, and made without the launching rail used in the Wright Flyer.

Santos-Dumont was born in Brazil and became famous in France first for pioneering airships. His 14-bis, whose name means “14-bis” or “14 again,” was developed from experiments involving his airship Number 14.