I do think the American story of the Wright Brothers single handily pushing humanity into the era of flight while the whole world called them idiots and didn't believe is kind of a stretch. There were at that time many people and teams working on the same general concept.

The idea of a flying wing was well understood, as people had been jumping from high places with them for a while. Some dude in Germany had a private hill constructed, just so he could play with his flying wings. The concept of propellers was also known. So people generally understood if one could build something light enough with enough power, powered flight would in principle be possible. The general public might have been skeptic, but all over the world there was money being invested and people working on it.

Doesn't mean what the Wright Brothers did wasn't brave and impressive, because it was. Building a rig with enough lift, while being light enough and sturdy enough not to fall apart. Building their own engine to shave down the weight. Figuring out some sort of control scheme and then trying it out without getting killed. One gust of wind and one of the brothers might have been dead, the project canceled. Some say Percy Pilcher could have flown before the Wright Brothers, but he died in a glider accident before his plane was ready to fly.

But in the end if those two could do it, others would be able as well. If they weren't the first I would think others would have gotten there within the year. The technology was on the cusp of it being possible and as people had been trying for hundreds of years, it was bound to happen.