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Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? In the 1780s, this new technology allowed for people to rise above the clouds for the first time in recorded human history. Beginning in 1782, the brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier successfully tested several passengerless hot air balloons near their home in Annonay, France. A year later, at Versailles before the king and queen and hundreds of spectators, they launched a hot air balloon with a sheep, a duck, and a rooster as test passengers. Our newest exhibition on the history of ballooning, "Into the Ether: Published Works on Ballooning and Atmospheric Studies, 1783–1910" is now on display in the Aviation Museum and Library. http://bit.ly/IntoTheEther This image was posted on July 06, 2018.

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