The Wright Brothers were shy men with old fashioned manners, deeply suspicious of the outside world and ill-equipped to help their own cause. The first flight was done by Wilbur who was dressed in a customary business suit. When he flew the plane he stayed aloft for 59 seconds , covering 852 feet. The flight was successful!

After 1909 the Wright Brothers established a company to manufacture their own planes. Orville manage the business; Wilbur devoted himself to protecting their patents and taking infringers to court. In 1912 Wilbur became ill with typhoid and died. He was just 43 years old. Orville lost interest in the business, and lived on in the big house on the hill in Dayton, Ohio where he died at the age of 77 while fixing a doorbell.

A good site that provides a lot of information and interesting facts on the Wright Brothers and flying is  To Fly Is Everything.

The Wright Brothers are a great example of an American story about two ordinary mechanics, working entirely independently, who reshaped the twentieth century. By the time of the 1908 flying demonstration, these two bicycle shop owners had not only invented the first practical airplane, but had developed theories and formulas by which flight was understood and patented the use of the "surface controls" which all aircraft now use for steering. They became the first celebrities of the 20th century.