Diego Marin Aguilera

Diego Marin Aguilera was an inventor who, after studying the flight and the anatomy of eagles, devised his own flying machine. On this day in 1793, he took off with his glider and reached a height of 5 to 6 meters (16 to 19 feet) and a distance of about 360 meters (1181 feet). Although that's pretty impressive, the glider had crash landed due to a faulty metal joint.

But Marin later destroyed his creation because of all the shit the townspeople gave him about him being crazy and a heretic. He left no documentation of his flapping wings and died at the age of 44. He actually had no formal education, just a passion for inventing.