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The first people to incorporate control over pitch, roll and yaw in an aircraft were the Wright Brothers. On their 1903 flyer, the had a rudder to control yaw, and an elevator to control pitch. These two mechanisms had been thought up by many scientits, but the Wright brothers had the first functional design. 

What scientists couldn't even imagine was how to roll. The Wright Brothers observed the flight of birds, and realized that birds don't just yaw, they dip and swoop when they turn; they roll. This inspired the brothers to create wing warping, which made their aircraft roll. Today, we use ailerons to acomplish roll.