The first recorded balloon flight occurred in the French country side in June of 1783. Two brothers, Jacques Etienne and Joseph Michel Montgolfier, sent a large, smoke-filled bag 35 feet into the air.

Three months later, a duck, rooster and a sheep became the first passengers in a hot air balloon, since no one knew if a human could survive the flight. Finally, on November 21, 1783, amid a large group of onlookers that included the King and Queen of France, Marquis d' Arlandes and Pilatre de Rosier piloted man's first aerial voyage. This, more than a century before the Wright brothers' famous Kitty Hawk Flight. The first American balloon flight was ten years later in Philadelphia. The passenger was a small black dog and the pilot carried a personal letter of introduction from President George Washington on the 15 mile, 46 minute flight that reached over 5,800 feet above ground. It was perhaps the first U.S. Air Mail flight. Although ballooning became very popular in Europe, the Eighteenth century farmers were frightened by these strange creatures descending from the skies and attacked the balloons with pitchforks. Early aeronauts soon learned to carry champagne aboard to present to the farmers as a gift upon landing. Thus began the tradition of the champagne toast.

Balloons have been put to many uses through the ages. Generations of sportsmen, explorers and scientists, as well as military units have used balloons to accomplish feats that would have been otherwise unattainable. Though overtaken in the 20th century by the advent of powered aircraft, balloons have maintained, as one aeronaut wrote, "the one mode of transportation that has never grown up." The modern rebirth of Hot Air Ballooning began in the 1960's primarily due to the development of durable, inexpensive nylon and polyester for the envelope along with an improved and efficient propane heater system. Today, there are more than 6,000 registered balloons and 7,000 pilots in the U.S. alone.

 

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