A Sheep, a Duck, and a Rooster Fly Over Versailles
The Montgolfier brothers prove hot air can lift a payload, using barnyard animals as the test crew
Quick facts
- Date
- September 19, 1783
- Location
- Palace of Versailles, France
- Passengers
- A sheep, a duck, and a rooster
- Distance traveled
- About 3.5 km in 8 minutes
What happened
Paper manufacturers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier had already sent an unmanned balloon over a mile into the air above Annonay in June 1783. On September 19, in front of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles, they launched a second balloon, a cotton and paper craft roughly 18.5 meters tall named Le Reveillon, carrying a sheep, a duck, and a rooster in a basket tied beneath it. At the blast of a cannon at 1pm the balloon rose and traveled about 3.5 kilometers before landing safely eight minutes later. All three animals survived the flight.
Why it matters
The Versailles flight was the first time a living, breathing payload had been sent aloft and recovered, answering the era's real scientific question: whether a body could survive at altitude before anyone risked a person. King Louis XVI was reportedly satisfied enough by the animals' safe return that he allowed a human flight to follow just two months later, on November 21, 1783, making this the direct hinge between balloon theory and the first manned flight in history.
How we know
The flight is documented in the official record of the Chateau de Versailles, which hosted and preserved the account of the demonstration before the French court.
Sources
- Linda Hall Library. 01. First Flights · Reputable sourcelindahall.org · The domain "lindahall.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Chateau de Versailles. The first hot air balloon flight, 19 September 1783 · Primary source (author-declared)en.chateauversailles.fr · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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