The Hot-Air Balloon's First Flight

This episode explores the groundbreaking first flight of the hot-air balloon, invented by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783.

1. Invention of the Hot-Air Balloon: Joseph Montgolfier's initial observation led to the invention of the hot-air balloon.
2. First Public Flight: The first successful public flight took place on June 4, 1783, in Annene, France.
3. Royal Demonstration: The demonstration for King Louis XVI included live animals and showcased the potential of balloons.
4. Balloons in Warfare: Balloons were later adapted for military purposes, beginning with the French Revolutionary wars.
5. Legacy and Tragedy: The episode highlights both the advancements and dangers of early ballooning, including the first fatal balloon accident.

1: The Spark of Invention

Joseph Montgolfier, inspired by billowing clothes, develops the concept of the hot-air balloon. "Joseph Montgolfier: I wondered whether smoke might contain a special substance that's more buoyant than air."

2: The First Flight

The Montgolfier brothers conduct their first successful flight, impressing the local crowd. "Etienne Montgolfier: It's just a matter of time before the balloon's ready to go."

3: Royal Approval and Beyond

The balloon's potential is recognized by King Louis XVI, leading to further tests and demonstrations. "Joseph Montgolfier: These balloons may give France an advantage in battle."

1. Curiosity Leads to Discovery: Take inspiration from everyday observations to fuel creativity and innovation.
2. Collaboration is Key: Work with others to refine and implement your ideas effectively.
3. Embrace Public Feedback: Use public demonstrations to gain support and valuable insights.
4. Prepare for Setbacks: Anticipate and plan for potential failures or misinterpretations.
5. Consider Ethical Implications: Reflect on how your inventions can impact society, especially in terms of safety and ethical use.

June 4, 1783. The Montgolfier Brothers hold the first public demonstration of their new invention: the hot-air balloon.

People

Joseph Montgolfier, Etienne Montgolfier

Companies

None

Books

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None

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Speaker A
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Speaker B
Its June 4, 1783 in a town square in Annene, France, 38 year old Etienne Montgolfier strikes a flint and steel together in search of a spark. After a few tries, a small pile of straw on the ground sets alight. A meager crowd watches as Etienne adds more fuel to the fire. He moves quickly because time is of the essence. Etienne is here with his older brother Joseph to demonstrate a new invention.

A large circular sheet lies on the ground, and if the Montgolfier brothers are right, itll soon ascend into the sky like a bird. Etienne signals to Joseph, and the two inventors lift the cotton and paper sheet above the fire. As smoke and heated air enters an opening in the sheet, it gradually expands into a balloon. Eventually, the sheet is fully inflated, but the Montgolfier brothers balloon remains on the ground. One or two spectators heckle and laugh, but Etienne ignores them.

He knows its just a matter of time before the balloons ready to go, and after a few more seconds, Etienne feels the balloon tugging at his hands. He and Joseph exchange a nod, let go at the same time, and the balloon rises into the air. The small crowd bursts into applause as the balloon soars up toward the clouds. It climbs and climbs, rising higher even than Etienne expected, till its little more than a small speck in the blue sky.

This experiment in Anane, France, doesnt just launch a balloon into the air. It also launches Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier to fame. Over the next few years, the Montgolfier brothers will become famous pioneers in the new industry of aeronautics, helping humans take to the sky for the first time. But tragedy as well as triumph will follow for Etienne and Joseph Long after they gave the first public demonstration of a hot air balloon on June 4, 1783.

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Speaker B
From Noiser and airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is history daily.

History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is June 4, 1783, the hot air balloon's first flight.

It's November 1782 in Avignon, France, two and a half years before the first public demonstration of a hot air balloon. 42 year old Joseph Montgolfier carries a box shaped, cloth covered contraption through his house and carefully places it on the stone floor of his kitchen. Joseph smooths the cloth, checks the lightweight wooden frame is intact, and then nods with satisfaction. His experiment is ready. Joseph has always been a tinkerer and deeply curious about the ways of the world.

A few days ago, while watching clothes dry over a fire, Joseph noticed a shirt sleeves billowing and lifting up in the air that gave him the seed of an idea. He wondered whether small smoke might contain a special substance thats more buoyant than regular air. So he set to work building a device to test his hypothesis, a lightweight box to capture smoke. And if Josephs theory is correct, the. Box should rise into the air when.

Theres enough smoke inside. So now Joseph crumbles up some paper on the floor and sets it alight. Then he carefully places the only side of the box thats not covered by cloth over the top of the small flame. At first, all Joseph sees is a flicker behind the cloth, but after a moment, the box slowly floats up into the air. Joseph claps his hands in delight as the box rises up all the way to the ceiling.

And then, when the fire burns out, the box drops back to the floor. Joseph repeats his experiment several times, noting that the box rises only when smoke is trapped inside the chamber. If Joseph blows the smoke away from the box, it remains on the floor. Excited by this discovery, Joseph writes to. His younger brother Etienne to tell him about his findings.

Joseph explains that smoke must contain something thats lighter than air, a mysterious substance he dubs Montgolfier gas. Hes already invented a special gadget that captures this gas and uses it to. Rise into the air. But for the next stage of his experiments, Joseph needs Etienne's help. Etienne runs a paper making business, and Joseph wants wants to make use of his brother's expertise.

He asks Etienne whether paper would be a better material to cover his floating box. It's lighter than cloth, after all, so, in theory, less Mongolfier gas should be needed to make it fly. But of course, paper is flammable. So what Joseph needs is a paper mix that is both lightweight and fire resistant. Over the next few weeks, the two brothers collaborate and build several more experimental contraptions together.

Using Etienne's knowledge of paper manufacturing, they find a blend of cotton and paper that's less prone to tearing or catching on fire. They also discover it's possible to remove the device's square wooden frame because the smoke itself seems to support the material. That considerably lowers their gadget's weight, allowing them to build a bigger test model. When they release this new unframed balloon outside, the result is spectacular. It floats high into the air until the wind catches it and the balloon threatens to disappear into the distance.

The brothers race after it, trying to keep their precious invention in sight. The balloon travels for over a mile. But when Joseph and Etienne finally reach its landing site, their hearts sink. Someone else has gotten to the balloon first and hacked it to pieces, perhaps thinking it was a bomb sent by Frances old enemy, the British. After their test model is destroyed, the brothers build another balloon, and this one is even bigger.

Keen to avoid another misunderstanding, they make their next launch a public event. And on June 4, 1783, local dignitaries are invited to a town square in Annenagh to watch the balloon go up. Upon release, it reaches 6000ft into the air and drifts for a mile before falling back to earth. The reaction of the invited guests is so positive that word of the Montgolfier brothers invention quickly spreads, even reaching the ears of the king. Three months after unveiling their balloon in its first public test flight, the Montgolfiers are asked to repeat the demonstration for King Louis XVI, Joseph and Etienne make the most of the occasion.

They decorate their balloon with royal symbols and attach a basket underneath. After they fill the balloon with smoke from a fire, it ascends above the palace of Versailles with a duck, a chicken and a sheep aboard. The animals become the first live test subjects to travel by hot air balloon, and King Louis gleefully tracks her progress on horseback. The three animals survive their adventure through. The air, and King Louis realizes that these balloons may give France an advantage in battle.

He requests another flight, using condemned criminals as test pilots. But Joseph and Etienne persuade the king that the honor of being the first human to fly should go to french noblemen, not criminals. So with royal backing, the Montgolfier brothers will embark on the next stage of their research with a new goal, to send a balloon into the sky with. A human on board.

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Speaker B
Its November 21, 1783 at a chateau in Paris, France, two months after the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated their balloon to King Louis XVI, 29 year old science tutor Jean Francois Pilatre de Rosier walks around the Montgolfier brothers latest balloon, carefully inspecting the cotton and paper. Envelope for rips or tears. After hes done a full circuit of the balloon, he he signals to the brothers that the equipment is good to go. Jean Francois wants to ensure that todays flight goes without a hitch, and not just because its the latest demonstration of the Montgolfiers invention, but because for this flight, Jean Francois will be aboard. Five months ago, Jean Francois witnessed the first demonstration of the Montgolfiers balloon at anone.

Since then, hes followed the brothers experiments with interest. Hes assisted in several test flights, including the royal demonstration at Versailles. And last month Jean Francois helped Etienne Montgolfier make the first manned balloon flight, although Etienne only rose 80ft into the air since the balloon was tied to the ground. Now Jean Francois has been selected to go up in the first untethered balloon flight with fellow nobleman Francois Laurent Deland. So after his inspection is complete, Jean Francois climbs into the basket and Deland joins him.

They watch as the Montgolfier brothers light a fire and haul on ropes to pull the balloon over the smoke. The balloon slowly inflates until the basket lifts off the ground. Jean Francois is thrilled by the sensation of rising into the air, although he notices that Deland is finding it less enjoyable. His knuckles are white from gripping the side of the basket. The balloon then ascends to 3000ft above Paris, giving Jean Francois a view of the french capital that up until now has been reserved for birds.

The balloon drifts in the breeze, floating over the river Seine and far above the towers of the Notre Dame cathedral, the tallest building in France. Jean Francois removes his hat and waves enthusiastically to the tiny figures on the ground. And since this is the first untethered balloon with a human pilot, the Montgolfier brothers have added a new element to their balloon. An iron brazier slung underneath. Jean Francois has been carefully tending the fire within to keep them in the air.

But after 25 minutes, he thinks theyve been up there long enough. He lets the fire die down and the balloon descends slowly until it lands in a field 5 miles from where it took off. After they land, Jean Francois opens a bottle of champagne and toasts the successful flight with Dollon, whose color returns. Now his feet are back on solid ground. Over the next year, Jean Francois becomes Montgolfiers most experienced pilot.

During his pioneering flights, Jean Francois accompanies the first paying passengers to travel by balloon. And he ascends through the clouds on another trip, going higher than anyone has before. On that occasion, Jean Francois travels more than 30 miles before the freezing winds at 10,000ft force him back down to earth. Now secure in the knowledge that balloons can cover long distances, Jean Francois next challenge is to make the first crossing of the English Channel. But he knows that flying over the sea means that hell need a bigger balloon with a larger supply of fuel.

Jean Francois decides that the Montgolfiers latest balloon isnt up to the task. So he builds his own with a radical new design. Jean Francois balloon has two chambers. One captures hot, smoky air like the mongolian balloons. But the second chamber contains a newly discovered gas thats known to be lighter than air.

Hydrogen. Jean Francois new balloon sets off from Calais on the north coast of France on June 15, 1785. Jean Francois and his companion hope for a smooth and historic journey. But their trip hits problems almost immediately. Theyre at the mercy of the elements because Jean Francois has no way to steer the balloon.

And partway across the channel, the wind changes direction and pushes them back toward France. When the balloon crosses back over the french coast, just 3 miles from their launch point, Jean Francois decides to abandon his attempt. But as he starts the descent, a spark from the Brazier ignites the hydrogen in the balloons second chamber. A fireball quickly consumes the balloon as Jean Francois watches on helplessly from 1500ft above the ground, the basket plummets back down to earth. This accident gives Jean Francois, another ballooning first, but this one is an unwanted accolade.

He and his companion become the victims. Of the first fatal balloon accident in. History, but they wont be the last. Over the next two centuries, balloons will send many more people to their deaths, but the majority wont be passengers because less than ten years after Jean Francois last flight, the hot air balloon would become a weapon of war.

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Speaker B
It'S the morning of June 26, 1794, outside Fleurus, a town in the Netherlands nine years after the death of Jean Francois Palatre de Rosier the 28 year old french general, Antoine Marlowe holds a telescope to his eye and examines the position of enemy fortifications around the town. It's a familiar task for General Merlot, who's commanded troops in several battles. But he's never had such an impressive view of a battlefield before because right now, General Merlot is 100ft in the air in the wicker basket of a hot air balloon. Five years ago, in 1789, King Louis XVI was overthrown in the French Revolution and a republican government was set up in its place. Two years later, a coalition of european powers declared war on the new regime with the intention of reestablishing the french monarchy.

The outnumbered french army needed every advantage it could get and turned to the country's brightest minds for help. So the Montgolfier brothers were asked to turn their balloon into a weapon of war. Today, the french army is facing an austrian force occupying the town of Fleurus. And for the first time, they have a hot air balloon in their arsenal. After examining the enemy positions General Merlot thinks hes seen enough from his high vantage point.

The balloon then descends and the general passes on instructions to his subordinates. Knowing exactly where the austrian troops are coming from and in what numbers allows General Merlot to shuffle his troops to better defend against the threat. And over the next few hours, the Austrians launch multiple assaults on the french lines. But general Meurlots men hold firm. And when the austrian advance stalls, the French rally to push the Austrians back.

By the end of the day, the French are in command of the battlefield. After this success at the battle of Fleurus, balloons gradually become an important part of 19th century armies. Over the years that follow more advanced balloons and then airships rise higher and. Go further than ever before. During World War One, hundreds take to the air, deployed either to scout out the enemy or to protect ground targets against an even more deadly weapon of the skies the airplane.

And in many ways, it's the airplane that makes Montgolfier brothers invention obsolete. But hot air balloons remain in use today for pleasure flights. And some even predict the golden age of ballooning is yet to come. Gigantic helium filled hybrid airships may soon be a familiar sight in the skies an environmentally friendly form of transportation that can trace its lineage back more than two centuries to the Montgolfier brothers experimental hot air balloon which was first unveiled to the french public on June 4, 1783.

Next on History daily, June 5, 1981. The Centers for Disease Control identifies five. Cases of a rare lung infection striking. Gay men in California, a disease that will later become known as AIDS.

From noiser and airship, this is History daily. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham Audio editing by Mohammad Shazib Sound design by Matthew Filler music by Throne this episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves, edited by William Simpson managing producer, Emily Burke executive producers are William Simpson for airship and Pascal Hughes for r.

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