Today, I learned where the driest place on Earth is and who flew the first airplane (you will be surprised).
[Image Source]
The driest place on Earth
We may think that it is Atacama Desert in Chile but we cannot be further from the truth. It may sound counter-intuitive but the driest place on Earth is located in Antarctica. Precisely, in McMurdo Dry Valleys. Although Atacama Desert in some areas receives only 1 to 3 mm of rainfall annually and there is evidence that some areas of it did not receive rainfall for 400 years (between 1570 to 1971) , the Dry Valleys have seen no rainfall for 2 millions years!
[Atacama Desert. Picture Source}
Dry Valleys have absolutely no water, snow or ice because of the wind which speed reaches up to 320 km/h making any water rapidly evaporate. In most McMurdo Dry Valleys you can't even find any surface microbial life which is the only place on Earth visited by humans without it's existence. The environment there are so harsh that it resembles surface of Mars. That's why it this place has been used by scientists and NASA to perform experiments for future Mars missions.
[McMurdo Dry Valleys. Picture Source]
The first person to fly an airplane
No, it wasn't the Wright Brothers. The first person to fly an airplane was likely to be the coachman or butler of Sir George Cayley. Sir George Cayley was and English engineer and pioneer of aeronautics. Because he was the first to accurately describe the aeronautic influences of thrust, lift, drag and gravity on the mechanics of flight, he was able to develop the first efficient wing shape. That led him to design the world's first successfully flown model glider.
[Replica of Sir George Cayley glider successfully flown by well known glider pilot Derek Piggott in 1985. Picture Source}
After many improvements the full scale prototype was tested in 1883 in Brompton Dale with his coachman aboard, who became the first human to successfully fly an airplane. The story says that after the flight the coachman said that he was hired to drive not to fly. Sir George Cayley also invented many other things and he is known for "reinventing the wheel". He had to redesign his glider's landing gear so he invented the special lightweight wire wheel (all wheels up to that date were made of wood) that could absorb the shock of landing. These wheels are still being used today in different types of vehicles.
[Replica of Cayley's Glider at the Yorkshire Air Museum. Picture Source}
Today, I learned!
Other sources not included under hyperlinks:
Universe Today - "What is the Driest Place on Earth?".
Flying Machines - "Sir George Cayley".
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