In October 1903 an editorial in the New-York time claimed that it could take millions of years for humanity to be able to fly. Today, this claim seems obviously ridiculous, what did most people actually think about the possibility of flying in the near future at that time?

by pandavert

This article in the New-York Times is often mocked on the internet since the Wright brothers made their first flight two months after it was published. I am interested to know if these kind of claims were shared by a lot of people around this time (end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century). Would the average reader of the NYT take this article seriously? Aside from this particular claim, how common was it to think that it wouldn't happen for decades? Did people living at this time had any idea that flying was so close to happen?

gerardmenfin

More can always be said about this (notably on the public perception), but I've discussed here some of the reasons why many people, including some who should have known better, did not believe that heavier-than-air flight was going to happen anytime soon.