John Joseph Montgomery
John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an aviation pioneer, inventor, professor at Santa Clara College.
On August 28, 1883 he made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights of the United States, in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, California (after European pioneers such as George Cayley's coachman in 1853, or Jean-Marie Le Bris in 1856).
Later, in 1905, Montgomery's pilot Daniel Maloney made a series of remarkable flights in the vicinity of Aptos and Santa Clara using tandem wing Montgomery gliders launched from balloons. These flights demonstrated the controllability of the Montgomery design and were the highest flights achieved by man to date.
John Montgomery was issued U.S. Patent #831,173 on September 18, 1906 for his invention of an aeroplane.
He was a member of the Aero Club of Illinois (1910) and member of the research committee of the Technical Board of the Aeronautical Society of New York (1911).
Montgomery died in the crash of his glider "The Evergreen" on October 31, 1911 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California on November 3, 1911. His relatives launched legal action against the Wright Brothers over the design.