Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22 1834 in Roxbury, Massachusetts near Boston, – February 27 1906, Aiken, South Carolina) was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor, aeronautics pioneer and aircraft engineer . He was the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and the founder of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Langley unsuccessfully competed to make the first working heavier-than-air aircraft. He was in part hindered by his use of heavy steam engines for power.
A number of things related to aviation have been named in Langley's honor, including:
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