The History of Ballooning
Published by Balloons on April 22nd, 2009 in Balloon History, Hot Air Balloon Flights
The hot air balloon has been around for over 200 years and is one of the first ways that man took flight. The first hot air balloon flight took place on September the 19th 1783, called the Aerostat Reveillon, the balloon was launched by the French scientist Pilatre De Rozier.
Because it was the first flight and no one knew what was going to happen, Pilatre De Rozier decided the flight would be unmanned and put a sheep, duck and rooster in the basket instead. The balloon flight was a success, staying in the air for 15 minutes before coming to ground, and thus beginning the ballooning revolution.
It was not till two months later that the first passenger balloon flight took place. On November the 21st 1783, two brothers named Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier launched their balloon from Paris; the balloon flew over the city for 20 minutes before landing just outside of Paris.
Since its humble beginnings, hot air ballooning has always been an ore inspiring sight and still invokes a sense of history and nostalgia even today.
