Who was the first human man to try to fly? Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt to construct a flying machine and fly. Abbas Ibn Firnaas lived in the city of Cordoba , Al-Andalus (now known as Spain). He studied both the religious and the scientific sciences. He studied the Islamic sciences of Quran, hadith, and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) as well as chemistry, physics, medicine and philosophy. People called him hakim (the wise man) of Andalusia. He had many inventions such as a water clock called Al-Maqata , He also developed a chain of rings that could be used to display the motions of the planets and stars. He is credited with being the first man to fly, he designed a winged apparatus, roughly resembling a bird costume; He launched himself from a mountain. The flight was largely successful, and was widely observed by a crowd that he had invited including the khalifa. He flew upward for a few moments; however, the landing was bad he fell to the ground and partially broke his back. Firnas' flight apparently inspired the scientists hundreds of years later to invent the airplane. Reference: www.al7darah.mygoo.org/t78-topic www.islamicstory .com courtesy Sister :Rania Bakr