Famous Spanish Inventors & Discoverers

Centuries before the Wright bothers invented the first motorized aircraft, 9th-century polymath Abbas Ibn Firnas became the first man to fly. He used giant wings made of wood, silk, and feathers to jump from the Jabal Al-Arus mountains and reportedly glided for 10 minutes before crashing and injuring himself.

Spanish baritone singer and voice educator Manuel García was the son of legendary opera singer Manuel del Popolo Vicente García. He started his career with his father’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He invented the laryngoscope and penned the classic Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing.