bild

Flying machine patent, 1889. Artwork showing a device invented by Reuben Spalding to allow a person to fly via the aid of a balloon and bird-like wings and tail. It is not known whether a full scale version was ever made. Machines that fly by wing flapping are known as ornithopters. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)