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In Avignon, France, brothers Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier noticed laundry puffing upwards while drying over a fire, which led to them experimenting with a hot air balloon made of fabric and a fire of damp straw and wool.
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In Annonay, France, the Montgolfier brothers launched the first hot air balloon made from silk and paper. The balloon rose between 5,200 and 6,600 feet into the air and landed safely about 1.2 miles away. -
In Versailles, France, scientist Pilatre De Rozier launched the first hot air balloon with passengers, which were a sheep, duck, and a rooster. The balloon stayed in the air for a total of 15 minutes.
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In the western outskirts of Paris, France, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent le Vieux d’Arlandes rode in a hot air balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers and flew about 5 miles for 25 minutes before landing in between two windmills outside the city.
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Jean-Pierre Blanchard and Dr. John Jeffries departed Dover, England on a hot air balloon that flew over the English Channel and landed in Calais, France. The flight took about two and a half hours. -
In Svalbard, Norway, Salomon August Andrée, Knut Frænkel, and Nils Strindberg attempted to fly a hot air balloon from Svalbard to the North Pole, but it did not end very well. Just two days after leaving, the balloon crashed onto a pack of ice and the explorers passed away. -
In Sioux Falls, Ed Yost and three other people formed Raven Industries and began to develop the modern hot air balloon along with the propane gas burner, which allowed longer flights to take place.
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In Bruning, Nebraska, Ed Yost went on the first modern hot air balloon flight. The ride lasted 25 minutes and traveled about 3 miles.