The Forgotten Half
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Do you guys know who this is?
No?
Damn.
This is Paul Cornu.
You guys know who these guys are?
That’s Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the airplane, or at least the people to conduct the first successful powered flight.
Ah, so we all know the guys who did the first powered airplane flight, we all find that very exciting. But when I bring up Paul Cornu, who did the first flight in what could charitably be called a Helicopter literally four years later, everyone’s minds go suspiciously blank.
What the fuck is up with this?
Helicopters are everywhere! They’re everywhere, and they’re arguably way more impressive than airplanes. They can take off vertically and hover! We literally invented a second type of powered flight and I guess everyone was just like “who cares.” We did the same thing, honestly harder, and no one remembers this guy’s name. Well, I remember his name. It’s Paul Cornu, and I’m putting some respect on that shit every damn day.
So the next time anyone at a party brings up the Wright Brothers, or Kitty Hawk, or even just mentions cats or hawks, make it your mission to step in and say “hey, isn’t it weird we don’t care about the guy who made a helicopter? Helicopters are honestly more impressive and lowkey kind of cooler than planes. Why is no one talking about this?”
Everyone will love you for it. They love it when I do it, and I have been for the past month. It’s been a great month.
Nabeel’s Footnote
All I’m hearing is “Paul Cornu murdered Kobe and his daughter.”