The first hot air balloon was designed by Josef and Etienne Montgolfier in Annonay, France. Two brothers who belonged to a family of paper manufacturers, Josef and Etienne's interest in hot air balloons was sparked (no pun intended) when Josef noticed ashes from a paper fire rising into the furnace. Believing that heated air was the rising agent, Josef and Etienne began experimenting with hot air balloon design.
Hot Air Ballooning History
After several successful trial flights involving unmanned prototypes, the Montgolfier brothers selected a sheep, a rooster, and a duck as the very first living passengers to experience a hot air balloon ride on September 19, 1783. The subsequent safe landing gave the Montgolfier brothers the confidence they needed to present the King of France with their invention. A short time later on November 21, 1783 the first manned flight in a hot air balloon took place over Paris carrying two noblemen from the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in a silk and paper balloon designed by Josef and Etienne.
Improvement in hot air balloon design continued through 1793. However, the subsequent invention of the hydrogen balloon made the Montgolfier's inventions relatively obsolete until 1960, when the first modern hot air balloon (made of nylon and featuring propane burners) was unveiled in Bruning, Nebraska on October 10. As this nylon/propane design was easier to design and much safer to fly, the ballooning sport rapidly gained popularity. Subsequently, the first U.S. national balloon championships were held in 1983.
Today, there are more than 5,000 hot air balloon pilots in the United States alone. While not considered effective modes of transport, hot air balloons are constantly used in races as well as for novelty trips. Each year more than 100 competitive ballooning events take place and old records are broken. Josef and Etienne would be proud.
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