By 1905 Santos-Dumont had become convinced that flying airships could be compared to “pushing a candle through a brick wall.” Inspired by stories of what the Wright brothers (Wright, Wilbur and Orville) had accomplished in the United States, Santos-Dumont designed and flew a series of heavier-than-air flying machines. His major accomplishments include making the first public flight in Europe with a powered, winged aircraft on Sept. 13, 1906; winning the Archdeacon Cup on October 23 for a flight of 60 metres (about 200 feet); and winning an Aero Club of France Prize of 1,500 francs for the first flight of 100 metres (about 330 feet) on November 12. Santos-Dumont remained active in aeronautical circles prior to World War I, developing the Demoiselle, a high-wing monoplane, in 1909. He returned to Brazil a national hero in 1928. He took his own life four years later, apparently depressed by the outbreak of a local war in which the airplane was employed as a weapon.