Who invented the kite and when?

No one knows exactly how or who invented the first kite. It is thought that the earliest use of kites was among the Chinese, approximately 2,800 years ago. The kite was said to be the invention of the famous 5th century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban. By 549 AD, paper kites were being flown – in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission. Ancient and medieval Chinese sources list other uses of kites for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and military communication.