Now for something completely different.
There is some argument to that, they might not have been the first.
However, they do get the credit.
The French think they might have been first.
I will say, that engineering, designing, the engine, propeller, and drive system was more than genious!
Plus designing and building the airplane with the whole fixed wing arrangement, with a modern Conard!
Back to the argument of who might have been first-
The Egyptians may have had toy gliders made of wood....
There may be very old airstrips still visible from space...
And
In more modern times, George Cayley probably had the earlier understanding of flight dynamics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_the_first_airplane_flight