Montgolfier Brothers

Hello! We are the Montgolfier brothers. My name is Joseph, and this is my brother, Étienne. A long, long time ago, we lived in a country called France. Our family made paper, and we loved to invent new things. We spent a lot of time watching the world around us. We especially loved watching how smoke from a fire would float up, up, up into the sky. We were always dreaming up new ideas together.

One day, while we were watching a fire, we noticed something amazing. The hot air from the fire pushed everything up! It gave us a super big idea. What if we could catch that warm air inside a giant bag? We thought maybe the bag would float high in the air, just like the smoke did. We were so excited, we got to work right away. We used paper and cloth to sew a huge, lightweight bag that looked like a big, puffy cloud.

In the year 1783, it was time to show everyone our invention. We built a small fire on the ground underneath our big bag. We watched as it filled with warm air, getting bigger and bigger. It started to wiggle and jiggle, and then... whoosh! It floated right up into the sky! We had made the world's very first hot air balloon. For the very first ride, we sent some funny little passengers up in a basket—a sheep, a duck, and a rooster! They had a safe and gentle ride. Our invention showed everyone that when you have a big dream and work together, you can reach for the sky. People still ride in colorful hot air balloons today, floating peacefully because of our wonderful idea.