Transport & space · 1783
Hot air balloon
The Montgolfier balloon lifts the first humans into the sky over Paris.
On 21 November 1783 Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes flew about 9 km over Paris in a Montgolfier balloon of paper-lined fabric. Days later Jacques Charles flew a hydrogen balloon. Ballooning began the systematic science of flight and the atmosphere.