Among his achievements is being the first man to take off in an airplane powered by an engine.
However, Dumont's feat is not unanimous, as some argue that the Wright brothers, from the USA, were the first to accomplish this feat on December 17, 1903.
However, Santos Dumont was the first to fly a pre-established circuit under the official supervision of experts, journalists and citizens of Paris.
On October 23, 1906, he flew his 14-Bis about 60 meters, at a height of two to three meters above the ground, at the Bagatelle field in Paris. In less than a month, he repeated the feat in front of a crowd of witnesses, traveling 220 meters at a height of six meters.
The 14-Bis flight was the first of a heavier-than-air aircraft that flew under its own power and received certification from the Aero Club of France.
Santos Dumont died on July 23, 1932, in Guarujá/SP, after committing suicide at the age of 59.
He did not leave a note, but it is suspected that he was disappointed to see planes in combat during the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932. The planes bombed Campo de Marte, in São Paulo, and probably flew over Guarujá.