[8] It grew in the 19th century as a canal town and was home to many patents and inventors, most notably the Wright brothers, who developed the first successful motor-operated airplane.

Ohio's borders are within 500 miles (800 km) of roughly 60 percent of the country's population and manufacturing infrastructure, making Dayton a logistics hub.

[11][12] The city is home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a significant contributor to research and development in the industrial, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering fields.

They traveled in March from Cincinnati up the Great Miami River by pirogue and landed at what is now St. Clair Street, where they found two small camps of Native Americans.

The city was named after Jonathan Dayton, a captain in the American Revolutionary War who signed the U.S. Constitution and owned a significant amount of land in the area.

In 1906, Charles F. Kettering, a leading engineer at the company, helped develop the first electric cash register, which propelled NCR into the national spotlight.

[23][24] Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African-American poet and novelist, penned his most famous works in the late 19th century and became an integral part of the city's history.

During World War I, the Army purchased 40 acres adjacent to Huffman Prairie for the Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot.

He was able to show that it was not necessary to build 336 Bombes, so the initial order was scaled down to 96 machines to decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II.

New, modernized shopping centers and the Interstate Highway System allowed workers to commute greater distances and families to live further from the downtown area.

[31] Since the 1980s, however, Dayton's population has declined, mainly due to the loss of manufacturing jobs and decentralization of metropolitan areas, as well as the national housing crisis that began in 2008.

[33] In 1995, the Dayton Agreement, a peace accord between the parties to the hostilities of the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia, was negotiated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Fairborn, Ohio, from November 1 to 21.

Richard Holbrooke wrote about these events in his memoirs: There was also a real Dayton out there, a charming Ohio city, famous as the birthplace of the Wright brothers.

Unlike the population of, say, New York City, Geneva or Washington, which would scarcely notice another conference, Daytonians were proud to be part of history.

In 1845, an article published in the Cincinnati Daily Chronicle by an author known as T stated: In a small bend of the Great Miami River, with canals on the east and south, it can be fairly said, without infringing on the rights of others, that Dayton is the gem of all our interior towns.

[40] Paul Laurence Dunbar referred to the nickname in his poem, "Toast to Dayton", as noted in the following excerpt: She shall ever claim our duty, For she shines—the brightest gem That has ever decked with beauty Dear Ohio's diadem.

After their first manned flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which they had chosen due to its ideal weather and climate conditions, the Wrights returned to Dayton and continued testing at nearby Huffman Prairie.

Snow is moderate, with a normal seasonal accumulation of 23.3 in (59 cm),[a] usually occurring from November to March, occasionally April, and rarely October.

[48] Although some of the tornadoes were only EF0 and remained on the ground for less than a mile, one was an EF4 measuring a half-mile-wide (805 meters), which tore through the communities of Brookville, Trotwood, Dayton, Northridge, and Riverside.

In the federal government's National Urban Policy and New Community Development Act of 1970, funding was provided for thirteen "new towns" or planned cities throughout the country.

The city of Dayton has started Tech Town, a development project to attract technology-based firms and revitalize the downtown area.

[103] In addition to philharmonic and opera performances, the Schuster Center hosts concerts, lectures, and traveling Broadway shows, and is a popular spot for weddings and other events.

[104] The historic Victoria Theatre in downtown Dayton hosts concerts, traveling Broadway shows, ballet, a summertime classic film series, and more.

[117] The Dayton area is served by Five Rivers MetroParks, encompassing 14,161 acres (5,731 ha) over 23 facilities for year-round recreation, education, and conservation.

South of Dayton in Kettering is the Fraze Pavilion, whose notable performances have included the Backstreet Boys, Boston, and Steve Miller Band.

Cheese and other topping ingredients are heavily distributed and spread edge-to-edge with no outer rim of crust, and the finished pizza is cut into bite-size squares.

[159] The Dayton area is home to several minor league and semi pro teams, as well as NCAA Division I sports programs.

Shortly after the Gems folded, it was announced a new team, the Dayton Demonz, would begin play in 2012 in the Federal Hockey League (FHL).

Focus on Business is published by the Chamber of Commerce to provide awareness of companies and initiatives affecting the regional economy Nielsen Media Research ranked the 11-county Dayton television market as the No.

The nationally syndicated morning talk show The Daily Buzz originated from WBDT, the former ACME Communications property in Miamisburg, before moving to its current home in Florida.