Also, the author is wrong on the first flight which was not the wrights but clement ader... in 1890. Nice fail. He should be more modest and avoid giving les sons to journalists and industrialists when he does not now his own history, even 140 years later and with the Hell of the internet and Wikipedia. He should be more self-aware that being right about innovation is indeed difficult.
Plenty of people, including Ader, got into the air before the Wrights, but their flight was not controlled flight. The Wrights were the first to get the whole package of powered, controlled, heavier than air flight to work.
For those interested in clement ader : https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ole_(avion)