Before Airplanes, Paper Planes Had Other Names
Before powered flight, folded paper gliders were known by names like paper darts, paper gliders, and paper kites.
Details
The familiar paper airplane has a surprisingly old history. Long before powered aircraft became practical, people were already folding paper into small flying or gliding shapes. Historical sources use names including paper dart, paper glider, paper aeroplane, paper aircraft, and paper bird, while paper kite also appeared in older usage. One documented source points to paper darts dating to 1786, while paper aircraft are also known from later nineteenth century examples. The important distinction is that these early paper objects were unpowered gliders or flying toys, not airplanes in the modern mechanical sense. Their existence shows that the idea of making a simple folded object glide through the air predates powered human flight by many years. As aviation developed, the language around these little folded aircraft changed along with the technology, and airplane became the familiar modern term.
More videos
- How Rats Accidentally Preserved Clues to Human History
Rats stole everyday objects for their nests, accidentally preserving clues about human lives, diets, travel, crafts, and past environments.
Tags: History
- 800-Year-Old Medieval Notebook Found Remarkably Preserved in a German Latrine
An 800-year-old wood-and-wax notebook with Latin writing survived remarkably well inside a sealed medieval latrine in Paderborn, Germany.
Tags: History
- How Ancient Chinese Oracle Bones Were Used to Read the Future
Ancient Chinese diviners carved questions into ox bones or turtle shells, heated them until they cracked, and read the cracks as answers about the future.
Tags: History
- 4,000-Year-Old Egyptian Letters Reveal Everyday Family Life
Letters sealed in an ancient Egyptian tomb for nearly 4,000 years offer a rare glimpse into the everyday life of a family.
Tags: History
- 5,500-Year-Old High-Altitude Copper Site Reveals Repeated Mountain Trips
About 5,500 years ago, people repeatedly climbed to a cave 2,235 meters up in the Pyrenees to process green copper-bearing rock, likely malachite.
Tags: History
- The 1940 Time Capsule Meant to Wait Until 8113
A huge time capsule sealed in 1940 holds books, recordings, everyday objects and a windmill-powered backup, and it is meant to stay sealed until 8113.
Tags: History
- Rock Paper Scissors Traces Back to an Ancient Chinese Hand Game
Rock Paper Scissors traces back to a Chinese hand game later carried to Japan, where the modern three-sign form developed.
Tags: History
- Ancient Brewers Used Beer Foam to Make Lighter Bread
Nearly 2,000 years ago, people used foam from brewing beer to help make lighter bread, using yeast long before anyone understood what yeast was.
Tags: History
- Homer’s Iliad Found on a 1,600-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy
A 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy was found with a fragment of Homer’s Iliad placed on its abdomen, a rare literary text in a burial setting.
Tags: History
- The $180 Billion AOL Time Warner Merger That Became a Record Loss
In 2000, AOL agreed to merge with Time Warner for about $180 billion, but after the dot-com crash the company reported a record $98.7 billion loss for 2002.
Tags: History
- Chernobyl Remains the Costliest Disaster by Estimated Economic Damage
Chernobyl is often listed as the costliest disaster ever, with about $700 billion in estimated damage, over $2 trillion when adjusted to 2025 dollars.
Tags: History
