30 January 1948 January 30, 2023AviationInventor, Orville Wright, Pilot, Test Pilot, Wright BrothersBryan Swopes Orville Wright (1871–1948) (U.S. Air Force photograph) 30 January 1948: Orville Wright, inventor of the airplane, died at Dayton, Ohio after suffering a heart attack. He was 76 years old. This photograph is dated 20 December 1943. © 2016, Bryan R. Swopes