In the year 1906, people were starting to explore and experiment with flying machines. Imagine you've played with toys that can fly, like paper planes or kites. Now imagine people wanted to make machines that could fly with people inside them. It was a very tough challenge and lots of people were trying to figure it out.
One of the biggest achievements in 1906 was by Santos-Dumont, a brave and clever man from Brazil. He built a kind of flying machine called the 14-bis, which looked a bit like a big kite with a motor and some propellers. He flew it for over 200 meters in Paris, France, which was a very big deal at the time. It was the first time a flying machine had flown in a straight line for more than a minute. The people watching were really amazed.
Another important thing that happened in 1906 was the first official government support for aviation in the United States. The US government created the Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal Corps, which was like a special division of the army that focused on new ways to fly. They wanted to explore how airplanes could be used to help the army and to protect the country. This was the start of a lot of important aviation research that led to things like airplanes used in wars and flying for transportation.
Overall, 1906 was an exciting year for aviation, with new inventions and important government support. People were starting to imagine a world where flying through the air would be possible, and they were working hard to make it a reality.