Aircraft 1.1 EXPERT
In 1783, what invention by the Montgolfier brothers allowed man to rise stably into the air for the first time?
75% of players answered correctly.
THE CORRECT ANSWER: The hot air balloon
The year 1783 marked a major historical turning point for humanity with the first official human flight. Brothers Jacques-Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, wealthy papermakers from Annonay, discovered that by trapping hot air in a large envelope of canvas and paper, it rose spontaneously into the atmosphere.After a first successful test with animals, the first manned flight in history took place in Paris on November 21, 1783. Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes took their places aboard an immense, richly decorated balloon.They rise from the Muette gardens and fly over the capital for around twenty-five minutes, reaching an altitude of nearly a thousand meters before landing gently. This unprecedented feat officially opens the era of aerostation, visually proving to the whole world that human beings can free themselves from Earth's gravity.