While it is widely known that the Wright Brothers were the "first to fly" in 1903, that depends on what one means by 'fly.' The Wright brothers' flight is qualified as the "first successful, sustained, powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine" by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. But air balloons are flying machines, too, considered lighter-than-air. The Wright brothers' flight took place about 120 years ago, but the first human flight in a hot air balloon took place 120 years before that in France.