Abbas Ibn Firnas: The Forgotten Pioneer of Flight
Abbas Ibn Firnas was born in 810 CE in Ronda, a city in Al-Andalus, present-day Spain. Al-Andalus was a center of knowledge and innovation during the Islamic Golden Age, where science, art, and philosophy flourished. Ibn Firnas was a polymath—a poet, inventor, and engineer who contributed to fields like astronomy, mechanics, and optics.
In 875 CE, at nearly 70 years old, Ibn Firnas made history. Wearing his glider, he climbed a high hill near Cordoba. Onlookers watched in awe as he leaped into the air. For a few moments, he glided, carried by the wind. But the landing didn’t go as planned—he crashed and injured his back
Ibn Firnas’s attempt was centuries ahead of its time. His ideas laid the groundwork for others, like Leonardo da Vinci, who sketched flying machines inspired by similar principles. And, centuries later, the Wright Brothers finally achieved powered flight in 1903.
