Engines were Whitehead's forte. Engine building is the talent that probably lead to his being first to achieve powered flight. It is claimed that one of his motors powered the first military plane, which was financed by the US Navy and built by Israel Ludlow. In 1908, it took off from the Smithsonian's front lawn, of all places.
Earlier (than the Wright Bros, who were first) attempts at powered flight were doomed by the weight of the power plants available to the builders, heavy steam engines for example.
There’s a myth about a medieval Chinese emperor who had skyrockets attached to his throne and launched himself into the sky, but that is presumably a bit of nationalist agitprop from the 20th c. That would count as powered flight, if true.
When the Swedish flagship Kronan exploded in the Battle of Oland (1676), one of the survivors was blown far into the air, saw all the ships on both sides from up there, and miraculously landed safely in the billows of a sail. Had this happened during a later era, there would have been no sails, and he’d have also lost his priority as the survivor of the earliest powered flight. ;’)
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