Joseph-Michel MontgolfierDied 26 Jun 1810 at age 69 (born 26 Aug 1740). French inventor and balloonist who with his younger brother, Étienne conducted an initial experiment with a balloon of taffeta filled with hot smoke was given a public demonstration on 5 Jun 1783. This pioneering work was followed by a flight carrying three animals as passengers on 19 Sep 1783, shown in Paris and witnessed by King Louis XVI. On 21 Nov 1783, their balloon carried the first two men on an untethered flight. In the span of one year after releasing their test balloon, the Montgolfier brothers had enabled the first manned balloon flight in the world.[DSB gives that he was baptised Michel Joseph, but was generally known as Joseph Michel.] |
