Historical story

Paris, 1783:the launch of the hot-air balloon

The hot-air balloon in Paris in 1783

The brothers Joseph Michel and Jacques Étienne Montgolfier are the inventors of the balloon which works with hot air and which takes the name of balloon. from them

But how did things go?

The two brilliant inventors managed to obtain Louis XVI from the then king of France permission to test their creation and so, on a sultry summer day 1783 , a first loud detonation invited the curious and anxiously waiting crowd to silence.

It took seven minutes to inflate the balloon, after which the "human anchors", that is the workers who, hanging from the ropes, held the balloon on the ground, broke off and the mysterious object was finally able to take flight together with its living load consisting of a duck, a rooster and a ram, as the sovereign, in order not to endanger the lives of human beings, had forbidden any person to come aboard to test the risky experiment.

The "journey" in the sky of Paris lasted eight minutes, of which, thanks to a telescope, Louis XVI did not lose one, and the animals landed safely.

So everything is fine, therefore there was no longer any reason not to repeat the operation by bringing up men in flesh and blood.

Two noble volunteers offered themselves, who soared on a hydrogen balloon in front of about one hundred thousand people and the royal family on November 20, 1783 .