Montgolfier

French brothers whose hot-air balloon was used for the first successful human flight 21 November 1783.

On 5 June 1783 they first sent up a balloon filled with hot air. After further experiments with wood-fuelled fabric-and-paper balloons, and one crewed ascent in a tethered balloon, they sent up two people who travelled for 20 minutes above Paris, a journey of 9 km/6 mi. The Montgolfier experiments greatly stimulated scientific interest in aviation.

The first hot-air balloon was launched in the marketplace of Annonay. Next, they took their invention to the palace of Versailles, where, before a large audience (which included Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette), their balloon ascended, carrying a sheep, a cock, and a duck, and made an eight-minute flight of approximately 3 km/2 mi.

The Montgolfier brothers were papermakers of Annonay, near Lyon. Jacques invented vellum paper. Joseph Montgolfier later developed a type of parachute, a calorimeter, and a hydraulic ram and press.