Today in History: Humans take to the air! but tethered, 1783 (France)

In 1783, two brothers demonstrated their invention, the hot air balloon, before a crowd of dignitaries in Annonay, France. 
Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, prosperous paper manufacturers (a high-tech industry at the time), experimented with lighter-than-air devices after observing that heated air directed into a paper or fabric bag made the bag rise. After several successful tests, the brothers decided to publicly demonstrate their invention.
The Montgolfiers built a balloon made of silk and lined with paper that was 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter and launched it — with nobody aboard — from the marketplace in Annonay on June 4, 1783, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The balloon rose to between 5,200 and 6,600 feet (1,600 to 2,000 m) and stayed aloft for 10 minutes, traveling more than a mile (about 2 kilometers).
[snip]

First crewed flight

The Montgolfiers' next step was to test a balloon with a person as the passenger. On Oct. 15, 1783, the brothers launched a balloon on a tether with Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, a chemistry and physics teacher, aboard. He stayed aloft for almost 4 minutes, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
About a month later, on Nov. 21, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes, a French military officer, made the first free ascent in a hot air balloon. The pair flew from the center of Paris to the suburbs, about 5.5 miles (9 km), in 25 minutes. Benjamin Franklin wrote in his journal about witnessing the balloon take off:
"We observed it lift off in the most majestic manner. When it reached around 250 feet [76 m] in altitude, the intrepid voyagers lowered their hats to salute the spectators. We could not help feeling a certain mixture of awe and admiration."
The first human passenger was also the first victim of balloon travel. Nearly two years after this flight, Pilâtre de Rozier died on June 15, 1785, when his balloon, filled with a combination of hydrogen and hot air, exploded during an attempt to fly across the English Channel, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry.


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