Friday, November 21, 2014

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Making a better history

By Lisa Goudy

Two hundred and thirty one years ago, the first successful flight with human passengers was made in a hot air balloon.

The pilots were Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, also called the Montgolfier brothers. Nov. 21, 1793 marked the first untethered flight of an air balloon, taking place in a Montgolfier balloon with Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent, marquis d’Arlandes, as passengers. The balloon flew over Paris for nine kilometers in about 25 minutes.

Today, in this world, it’s not uncommon every once in a while to spot a hot air balloon sailing over the skies, with people in it. All of that developed from a single flight 231 years ago.

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