Joseph Michel Montgolfier
Joseph Michel Montgolfier, (1740-1810) and his brother Jacques-Etienne (1745-99). French balloonists. In 1782 Joseph Montgolfier experimented with a silk envelope, which he inflated and caused to rise with hot air from a fire. In June 1783 the brothers launched an elaborately decorated balloon with three animals as passengers. A later development that year was an oval-shaped balloon, with its own stove to provide hot air and a passenger gallery. In November 1783 the first manned ascent and the first free flight by balloon were made.
