But on every side the boy heard people talking of great feats of flying that he knew nothing about. "Who was Santos-Dumont? What was that first trans-Channel flight? Why do they always talk about the first Rheims meet?" he asked one afternoon as he was returning home from the field with the scientist. The man could not answer the questions all in one breath, but we will follow his explanation, which extended over many pleasant hours, and see how aviation developed into a mighty sport and industry. For several years following 1905 the world of aviation was led by Europeans--mostly Frenchmen who readily grasped the principles of the science and made the best and lightest motors that the world has ever seen. The United States, however, was the first nation to experiment with aeroplanes for military purposes, although at present the country is far behind France, England, and Germany in the development of aeroplanes for use in war. Alberto Santos-Dumont, a daring young Brazilian who a few years earlier had astounded the world with his achievements with dirigible balloons, was the first of the aviators working in Europe to construct a practical man-carrying power flier. Scores of brilliant foreigners were working on the principles for gliders laid down by Lilienthal, but Santos-Dumont, working along the ideas of the scientists who had built power-propelled models, made himself a clumsy biplane equipped with a 50-horsepower motor and actually inaugurated public flights, considering that all done by the Wrights up to that time was experimental and practically in secret. On August 22, 1906, he made his first flight near Paris. It was brief, but authorities agree that it was the first time in Europe that a power-propelled flier had risen in free flight with a man at the steering wheel since Ader's secret flight in 1892. Two months later he made a public flight of 221 metres in 21 seconds, winning the world's first regularly offered aviation prize. This was the Archdeacon Cup of 2,000 francs authorized by the Aero Club of France for a flight of 100 metres. Scientists gave these flights more attention than they did the flights of the Wright brothers the year before because they were viewed by many thousands of people and also by men who had studied the science of aviation for years. Besides this, Santos-Dumont made no secret of the construction or workings of his machine as the Wright brothers did. He was already a popular idol through his work with dirigible balloons, and being very rich--the son of a millionaire plantation owner in Brazil--he did not have the same financial incentive for keeping his plans secret. His flights gave the aviators of France tremendous encouragement and it was but a short time until half a dozen aeroplanes, the makes of which are all well known now, were making successful flights and breaking records.