Montgolfier Brothers

Hello! We are the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, and we are excited to tell you our story. I, Joseph, was born in 1740, and my younger brother Étienne was born in 1745. We grew up in a town called Annonay in France, where our family owned a famous paper-making company. We were very different—I was a dreamer who loved to invent, and Étienne was practical and great at business. But one thing we both shared was a fascination with the sky. We would watch smoke rise from a fire and wonder, 'What if we could float up there, too?' This simple question started our greatest adventure.

One day in 1782, I, Joseph, was watching my wife’s laundry dry over a fire. I saw a shirt billow up with hot air and nearly float away! It gave me a brilliant idea. I realized that the hot air and smoke from the fire were much lighter than the air around them. I thought, if we could trap that hot air inside a giant, lightweight bag, maybe the bag would lift right off the ground! We started with small experiments, using silk bags and holding them over a fire. To our delight, they shot up to the ceiling! We knew we were onto something big.

After many tests, we were ready to show our invention to the world. We built a huge balloon, about 33 feet wide, out of sackcloth lined with paper from our family's factory. On June 4th, 1783, we held our first public demonstration in the marketplace of our hometown, Annonay. A huge crowd gathered, curious to see what we had built. We lit a fire of wool and straw underneath the opening of the balloon. As it filled with hot air, it began to swell and rise. When we cut the ropes, it soared into the sky! It flew for about 10 minutes and traveled over a mile before landing. Everyone cheered—they had never seen anything like it!

News of our amazing flying machine spread all the way to Paris. Soon, we were invited to show our invention to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. This was a great honor! On September 19th, 1783, at the grand Palace of Versailles, we prepared for an even bigger flight. This time, we wanted to see if living creatures could survive high up in the air. So, we placed the very first air passengers in a basket attached to the balloon: a sheep named Montauciel ('Climb-to-the-sky'), a duck, and a rooster. The balloon floated beautifully for eight minutes before landing safely. The animals were perfectly fine! The king and queen were amazed.

The success with the animals proved that the air high above was safe to breathe. The next big step was to send people up. We built an even larger, more beautiful balloon for the task. On November 21st, 1783, two brave men, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes, became the first humans to fly freely in a hot air balloon. We watched from the ground as they floated over Paris for about 25 minutes. They had done it! Humans were no longer bound to the ground. Our dream of flying had come true for everyone.

Our invention started a worldwide excitement for flying that we called 'balloonomania!' People were fascinated with the idea of exploring the skies. I, Étienne, lived to be 53 years old, and I, Joseph, lived to be 69. We were proud that our curiosity and teamwork opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Our hot air balloon was the very first step in human flight, paving the way for the amazing airplanes and spacecraft that explore the world and beyond today. We hope our story reminds you to always look up and let your curiosity soar.