Hot air balloon of Montgolfier brothers september 1783 - Stockillustratie

The Montgolfier brothers ( Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier ) hot air balloon on 19 September 1783. The balloon was made of cotton canvas with paper glued onto both sides, measured 18.47m tall by 13.28m wide, and weighed 400 kg. It was named Le Réveillon after Étienne's friend Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, the Director of the Royal Manufacture of printed paper, who had designed a motif on a sky-blue background decorated with the king’s cypher. At the blast of a cannon, at 1 pm, a sheep, duck and cockerel entered the round wicker basket tied to the balloon by a rope. The balloon left the ground and soared 600 metres into the air. Damaged by a rip in the fabric, it descended slowly eight minutes later after travelling 3.5 km and came back to earth in the Wood of Vaucresson, at the Maréchal crossroads. Original edition from my own archives Source : Ciencia Moderna 1897