The first gas balloon, filled with hydrogen, was released in Paris is August, 1783 by a French professor of physics, J.A.C. Charles. Two months earlier, the first hot air balloon was sent aloft by the Montgolfier brothers, Jacques, Etienne and Joseph, of France. And it was with balloons of this type that the first manned flights were made.
A rubberized silk balloon filled with hydrogen carried Professor Charles and M.N. Robert on a flight of 27 miles and rose to 2,000 feet. Ballooning became a popular spot in spite of the fact that hydrogen-filled balloons were always liable to catch fire. Some amazingly long trips were undertaken, including an unsuccessful attempt in 1958 to cross the Atlantic.
Balloons play an important part in meteorology, the science concerned with the weather. The first aerial photographs were taken from balloons, and in the 1930s pressurized cabins or gondolas were designed enabling observers to rise over 60,000 feet into the stratosphere.
Military observation balloons fastened to the ground by cables came into use at the end of the 18th Century and were employed by both North and South in the American Civil War (1861-1865)
The Austrians used pilotless hot air balloons to bomb Venice in 1849. During the Franco-German War of 1870-1871 balloons transported mail and carrier pigeons. Barrage balloons tethered to the ground were used in the Second World War to provide barriers against low-flying enemy aircraft.
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