November 12, 1872

Chicot County resident Charles M. McDermott—a medical doctor, minister, plantation owner, Greek scholar, charter member of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and inventor—had his patent “Improvement in Apparatus for Navigating the Air” granted. His patented inventions included an iron wedge, an iron hoe, a cotton-picking machine, and a “flying machine.” When he felt confident at last in his gliders, he had hauled one of the flying machines by wagon to Washington DC to apply for the patent, which he received after thirty-nine years of experimentation. It is believed to be the first patent for an airplane.