Today In History: Demonstrating the Montgolfier Balloon

Up, up, and away....

On June 4th, 1783 at the marketplace in Annonay, France, brothers Jacques-Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier publicly demonstrated an exciting new mode of transportation: the hot air balloon. These innovative sons of Pierre Montgolfier, a prosperous owner of paper factories, had experimented for a while with paper bags and smoke -- to learn that heat could ingeniously lift paper and make it float. Their enormous paper balloon contained a brazier with burning straw and wool at the bottom -- allowing it to rise 3,000 feet into the air for about ten minutes before it re-settled on the ground, though in flames, a mile and a half from its point of departure.

The Montgolfiers' exciting discovery led them to the Palace of Versailles, upon invitation by King Louis XVI to produce a much larger balloon made of paper and cloth -- but this time containing a basket with the world's first brave passengers: a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. The second hot air balloon experiment occurred on September 19th, 1783, with a successful flight, enabled by hydrogen (a gas lighter than air), that lasted eight minutes and landed roughly two miles away. One hundred and thirty thousand spectators, including the royal family, witnessed the grand event.  

A short time later, the first manned untethered flight with Pilatre de Rozier, a chemistry and physics teacher (who volunteered in place of a designated prisoner), and François Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes, took place in a Montgolfier balloon that journeyed five and a half miles in about 25 minutes.  On November 21st, 1783 the flight began on the grounds of the Château de la Muette, west of Paris, and it landed outside the city ramparts on the Butte-aux-Cailles.

Cloth balloons, rubber coated cloth balloons, and trials with hydrogen helped improve flight and inspired other forms of air travel, from powered aircraft to modern jets to manned and unmanned rocket ships and space vehicles.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Romance of Flying. (1921, Oct 22). The Irish Times (1921-) 
• Alphonso, A. M. (1934, Jul 29). Baltimore Balloonist America's First?: Celebration Planned in City to Mark Forgotten Flight of 1784. The Sun (1837-) 
• Wings of the World: They Sought wings . . Aces in Action . . . Airmen of Today . . . (1935, Jun 23). The Washington Post (1923-1954) 
• Miller, J. (1979, Dec 27). Library Has Air History Works. The Austin American - Statesman (1973-1980) 
• Flight of Fancy, Stamps Mark 200 Years: Balloonists Get 'High' at Birthday Bash. (1983, Mar 31). Los Angeles Times (1923-1995) 
• Collins, M. (1983, Aug 21). Above the Rooftops of Paris: The Montgolfier Brothers and the Invention of Aviation,  1783-1784. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• 100 Balloons Launch French Bicentennial. (1989, Jan 02). Boston Globe (1960-) 
• Browne, M.W. (1997, Jan 28). Undaunted by Failure, Balloonists Vow to Try Again: Undaunted Balloonists Plan Next World Trip. New York Times (1923-) 
• Glancey, J. (2000, Feb 07). Keep Your Feet on the Ground. The Guardian (1959-2009) 
• Balloon Pioneers. (2007, Jul 22). The Washington Post (1974-)

Tips:

• Aeronauts. Montgolfier, Jacques-Etienne and Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel. "Centennaire des Montgolfier," Scrapbook. 1883. Manuscript/Mixed Material. 
• Curley, Robert, ed. The Complete History of Aviation : From Ballooning to Supersonic Flight. 1st ed. New York: Rosen Educational Services, 2012.  e-book.
• Flight and Motion : The History and Science of Flying. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2009.  e-book.
• Lowery, Lawrence F. Up, Up in a Balloon. Arlington, Virginia: NSTA Press, National Science Teachers Association, 2013.  Curriculum ; TL617.M66 L69 2013.
• McGrory, Anik. Mouton’s Impossible Dream. First edition. San Diego: Harcourt, 2000. Juvenile ; PZ7.M173 Mo 2000.
• Priceman, Marjorie. Hot Air : The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride. First edition. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2005.  Juvenile ; TL620.M66 P75 2005.

Images:

• Expérience Aërostatique Faite Versailles le 19 Sept. Paris France, 1783. [S.l.: s.n]  Photograph. From the Tissandier Collection. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. 
• Montgolfier Balloon, First Hot Air Ballon Demonstration. Universal History Archive., UIG, Science Photo Library.