I was dialing around the boob tube Tuesday night and came across a fascinating show on PBS. It was an episode of Nova that focused on the Wright Brother's and the building of their airplane. It was a fascinating story. I knew the whole "bicycle-makers-make-airplane-at-Kitty-Hawk" story, but it was fascinating to learn how the Wright Brother's were the first to figure out the basic principles of aviation and succeed where countless others failed.

The Wright Brother's took flight on December 17, 1903. The centennial is just around the corner. It's a nice milestone to be alive to, isn't it? Think about it: in a real sense, their flight ushered in the 20th century (as much as Eienstein at any rate). By getting us off the ground, the Wright brother's changed everything--the way we travel, the way we fight, the way we do business, the way we view the world.

Case in point: my friend Jen lives in California, and she and I and our group of friends often lament the fact that none of us have the money to fly out and visit one another. But think about that for a moment. What bothers us isn't the problem of flying an entire continent apart to visit, but simply that we can't afford to do so. The fact that it's possible to travel 3,000 plus miles in an afternoon is completely taken for granted. It's become mundane--the delays we experience in using air travel cause more aggrivation and attention than the act of flying itself. In 100 years we've gone from an unbelieveable marvel to unemotional routine. Quite a legacy for two bike-makers from Dayton, Ohio.

Here's one more for you, a parting shot, if you will. If, like me, you enjoy connecting the dots of cause and effect, think how you could make the argument that by inventing the airplane, not only did the Wright Brothers start the 20th century, but also ushered the start of the 21st century as well. After all, it wasn't a horse and buggy that crashed into the World Trade Towers, was it?