1783Reputable sourceWell documented
The Birth of Flight: The First Balloons
On the timeline · around 1783 ·
What happened
In 1783 the Montgolfier brothers of France launched the air age with the hot-air balloon. In November two men became the first human beings to make a free flight over Paris, and within weeks others rose aloft in a hydrogen balloon. The spectacle of humans rising into the sky electrified the world.
Why it matters
Ballooning gave humanity its first taste of flight and its first view of the world from above. For over a century, until powered aircraft arrived, the balloon was the only way for people to leave the ground.
Sources
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Early Interest in Ballooning · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The Enlightenment → — A scientific marvel of the Enlightenment