# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/samuel-pierpont-langley
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:48:44.265Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/samuel-pierpont-langley"
name: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
slug: "samuel-pierpont-langley"
description: "He invented the bolometer and ran the Smithsonian, but the attention comes from being an aviation pioneer who nearly got there first — before the Wright brothers made him a footnote."
tagline: "American physicist, pioneer of aviation, and 3rd Secretary of the Smithsonian (1834-1906)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Scientists"
  slug: "scientists"
profileType:
  name: "Scientist"
  slug: "scientist"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1834-08-22"
deathDate: "1906-02-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           53.64
  momentum:             0.3734439834024897
  historical:           23.24460933333334
  currentAttention:     2.074688796680498
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Astronomy"
    slug: "astronomy"
  - name: "Physics"
    slug: "physics"
  - name: "Science"
    slug: "science"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
sources:
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    title: "Wikipedia"
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    title: "صموئيل لانجلى بيربونت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley"
    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Langley"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
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    title: "새뮤얼 피어폰트 랭글리"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
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    title: "Samuel Pierpont Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Samuel Langley"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "صموئيل لانغلي بيربونت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Samuel Pierpont Langley was born August 22, 1834, and became a professor of astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, where he directed the Allegheny Observatory. He invented the bolometer, a device for measuring radiant energy, and rose to become the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. His work as an aviation pioneer placed him at the center of early flight experiments in an era when powered heavier-than-air machines seemed impossible. He died February 27, 1906, a physicist and astronomer whose name survives in the shadow of those who flew days after his attempts failed.