"Langley Aerodrome," 1896

Samuel Pierpont Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, experimented successfully with unpiloted, steam-powered Aerodromes like the one seen here. He launched his aircraft from a houseboat on the Potomac River. Langley later designed a piloted, gasoline-powered version he called the Great Aerodrome, but two attempts to fly it in 1903 ended quickly with crashes into the river.