We also meet the men, from pilots like Stephen Till and John I. Williams to adventurers, passengers, and photographers like Mick Moignard (a favorite ZATZ editor), Dave Spragg, Jon Canfield, Dennis Deery, and James Aronovsky.

Flight, like so many revolutionary things filtered through the lens of time, has become quite pedestrian. And that's how it should be. But the achievement of flight was anything but pedestrian. The next time you're not sure whether you're up for the challenge, remember Wilbur and Orville (and Mardell, Marilyn, Kathy, Katherine, Mick, Dave, Jon, Dennis, and James).

Remember that before there were computers and even much of the modern machine shops, these gentlemen managed to not only build their own engine in six weeks, but their own flying machine (and learned to fly it).

We humans can be pretty amazing sometimes. Let's use this anniversary as motivation to continue to amaze, enthrall, and innovate, and to push the boundaries of the human condition.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise, has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com.