October 17, 1983
By the President of the United States
of America
A Proclamation
1983 marks the eightieth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic flight aboard a
self-propelled, winged aero-vehicle. That flight, lasting but 12 seconds and spanning only 120
yards, followed 120 years of unsuccessful attempts to accomplish such a feat. Although short
when measured against today's trans-meridian flights, its significance was great because it
established the foundation for future successes in aviation which continue to enrich the quality of
our lives today.
This year we also celebrate the bicentennial of man's first flight. Two hundred years ago, on
August 27, 1783, the Montgolfier Brothers of France first launched a manned hot air balloon into
the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, in a balloon constructed by an American lawyer, Peter Carnes,
Esq., the first American ventured aloft in a tethered balloon in Baltimore.
This year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Federal Aviation Act of
1958. This legislation created the Federal Aviation Administration, which has played a central role
in making civil air carriage ten times safer than it was in 1958, thus helping to advance the
progress of civil aviation and to fulfill the Wright Brothers' dreams of the future role aviation
would have in our world.
To commemorate the historic achievement of the Wright Brothers, the Congress, by joint
resolution of December 17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 169), designated the seventeenth day
of December of each year as Wright Brothers Day and requested the President to issue a
proclamation annually inviting the people of the United States to observe that day with
appropriate ceremonies and activities.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby call
upon the people of this Nation and their local and national governmental officials to observe
Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 1983, with appropriate ceremonies and activities, both to
recall the accomplishments and to stimulate the development of aviation in this country and
throughout the world.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of Oct., in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and eighty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and eighth.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:26 p.m., October 17, 1983]