Daedalus, a brilliant Athenian architect, was commissioned by King Minos of Crete to design an elaborate and complicated labyrinth. The resulting maze was so tricky and confusing that once you were inside, it was nearly impossible to navigate without assistance from the gods themselves. Then, to punish Daedalus for providing a secret clue to escape the labyrinth, the King had both him and his son Icarus imprisoned. But it’s hard to keep a good man down. Daedalus and his son escaped and hid on the shore near the rocky cliffs of Crete overlooking the sea. While hiding, Daedalus looked longingly at the seagulls that circled the beaches. Too bad he and Icarus couldn’t just fly off like the birds – unless… Daedalus decided to build two pairs of massive seagull wings so he and his son could escape.

While Daedalus designed the wings, Icarus was to gather supplies. Little by little, Icarus collected thousands of seagull feathers, branches, twine, and pounds of beeswax for the project. Daedalus fashioned the wings, bound them together with the thread and molded them with the beeswax.

Before their escape, Daedalus went over the plan. “Now this is important,” he warned. “Follow my EXACT path.