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💡 The First Hot Air Balloon
Two French brothers filled a giant paper bag with hot air — and people flew for the very first time.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
📍 Where is it?
📍 Paris, France — see it on the big map →
In the 1780s, two brothers named Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier ran a paper factory in France. They noticed that hot air made paper bags float up to the ceiling. What if they made a really big bag — big enough to lift a person?
They sewed together a huge balloon made of paper and cloth, and filled it with hot air from a fire. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so the balloon rose into the sky. First they tested it with a sheep, a duck and a rooster as passengers, to make sure it was safe.
Then, on November 21, 1783, two brave men — Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes — climbed into a basket under the balloon in Paris and floated over the rooftops for about 25 minutes. It was the first time humans had ever flown.
🤩 Wow fact!
The first passengers in a hot air balloon were a sheep, a duck and a rooster — they flew before any human did.
🧠 Quiz time!
What made the Montgolfier balloon rise into the sky?