A thousand years before the development of powered aeroplanes, the polymath and engineer of the ninth century dared to create a heavier-than-air flying contraption.
Abbas Ibn Firnas, an engineer who lived in the ninth century, is credited with being the first person to fly. He used a set of wings made of silk, wood, and genuine feathers.
Ibn Firnas reportedly jumped over a cliff from Yemen’s Jabal Al-Arus mountain when he was between 65 and 70 years old and glided in the air for at least “10 minutes.” He was dissatisfied and wounded by the brief journey. He concluded that his inability to balance his aircraft in the air and subsequent crash landing was due to his ignorance of the mechanics of landing.
Ibn Firnas is descended from Berbers. The origin of his name is Afernas, which is currently a widely used and popular name in both Morocco and Algeria.
He has been honoured with several airports, bridges, hills, parks, avenues, and scientific institutions, particularly in nations with a majority of Muslims. He has a statue beside the Baghdad Airport, and Cordoba, Spain’s bridge over the Guadalquivir River bears his name.
He passed sometime between 890 and 895 AD, and according to several historians, his injuries could have sped up his demise.
