Dayton

Dayton, city, Ohio, United States. The hub of a large metropolitan area, Dayton is a commercial, transport, cultural, and industrial centre and manufactures motor-vehicle parts, printed materials, rubber products, business machines, and processed foods. Other major employers are a manufacturer of computer hardware and software, and a national online legal and business information service. A centre of aerospace and high-technology development, the city has a long history of invention; it saw the creation of the cash register and, more famously, was the home of Wilbur and Orville Wright, who did pioneering research on aircraft in the city. In 1992 several geographically separated sites mostly associated with the development of aviation were designated as the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first black writers to achieve international recognition, was born in Dayton and the Dunbar house, now a museum, was his home from 1903 until he died in 1906. Educational institutions include the Air Force Institute of Technology (1919), the University of Dayton (1850), and Wright State University (1964). Nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is one of the area's biggest employers. Just south-west of Dayton is the Miamisburg Mound, one of the largest Native American burial mounds in eastern North America.

George Rogers Clark, a military leader in the American War of Independence, won a victory against the Shawnee on the site of Dayton in 1782, which was settled by whites in 1796 and named after General Jonathan Dayton, one of its founders. The city became a prosperous manufacturing centre following the opening of the Miami-Erie Canal in 1829 and the arrival of the railways in 1851. Crossed by winding streams, it was plagued by floods (particularly in 1913) until the completion of an elaborate flood control project in 1922. In 1966 and 1967 Dayton was the site of major protests against racial inequality. In 1995 the city was the site of talks that ended fighting in Bosnia, an agreement since known as the Dayton peace accord (see Bosnia and Herzegovina). Population 156,771 (2006).