"The Wrights made the first aircraft engine, for sure,
but the Gnome, designed and created by the Seguin Brothers in
France, was more powerful, and was widely used in Europe for a
number of different aircraft designs from aviation's birth in 1903
into the teens. It's really the engine that got aviation 'off the
ground' in the early days.
Source: Fred Murrin, Gnome rotary engine
restoration expert, commenting on the importance of the work of the
designers of the engine, the Seguin brothers of France.