A Kite's Tale

He lifted a thermometer into the air. He measured the air temperature.

He did this again, at different altitudes. This was the first reported scientific flight of kites.

Then, scientists began using kites. One example took place in Scotland.

It was a windy day in 1749. Alexander Wilson joined several kites on the same line.

He measured the distance by flying a kite over the wall. For the next 1,000 years or so, kite flying remained a military activity.

It was used for observation and signaling. Later, kites were used to drop information fliers.

Margo Brown is past president of the American Kitefliers Association. She finds kite flying relaxing.

Margo says, "Putting a 'heavier-than-air' object in the air and keeping it stable? It's exhilarating. It's really quite beautiful.

Of course, kites were not flying machines. They couldn't stay up without wind.

Nevertheless, kites design contributed to flight. In 1893, Australian scientist Lawrence Hargrave invented a box kite.

He couldn't have known how long his idea would live or how popular it would become. In fact, we could say that his idea would fly sky high!

Over the years, people all around the world have made many kinds of kites. Kites have many practical uses.

Today, kites are used for fun. Thousands are sold every year. People fly kites in the park.

They fly kites at carnivals. Kites are seen at festivals around the world. Kites bring out the kid in everyone.

A few years later, the Wright brothers made a five-foot model of a glider.

They wanted to test flight theories. Again, a simple kite contributed to complex science.

They've been used by the military, they've been used for science experiments, and they've been used to learn about flight.

They're also used for just plain fun.

Hargrave found that a box structure had greater stability. It had more lifting power than kites of old.

This became the basis for the biplane. In part, they were based on Hargrave's box kite.

The first kites were used for military purposes. The first recorded kite flight took place around 200 BC.

A Chinese General planned to build a tunnel to invade an enemy's palace. In order to build the tunnel, he had to know the distance from the wall to the palace.

He learned about electricity.

A little later, kites were used to study flight. Engineers began to design planes.

What do people do on windy days? They fly kites, of course! People have been flying kites for more than 2,000 years.

According to one tale, the first kite was invented in China. A farmer got the idea when a sudden gust of wind blew off his hat.

Life is full of simple pleasures." So the next time your day is windy, go fly a kite!

Adapted from "A Kite's Tale" by Rebecca Higbee

Three years later, a famous kite flew. American folklore tells of a Philadelphia flight.

Benjamin Franklin stretched his silk handkerchief between two sticks. He sailed during a wind-driven lightning storm.