Joseph-Michel Montgolfier
Date: Born on August 26, 1740, in Vidalonles-Annonay, Ardeche, France; died on June 26, 1810,in Balaruc-les-Bains, France
Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier
Date: Born on January 6, 1745, in Vidalon-les-An-nonay, France; died on August 2,1799, in Serrieres, France
Definition: Aviation pioneers who first accomplished successful human flight.
Significance: The Montgolfier brothers were pioneer developers of the hot-air balloon. Their work opened the way for exploration of the earth’s upper atmosphere.
Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier were two of sixteen children born to Pierre Montgolfier and his wife. Pierre’s success in the paper industry provided the necessary finances for Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne to obtain good educations and to conduct a variety of scientific experiments. Inspired by wood chips floating over a fire in the family fireplace, the two brothers theorized that when heated air was collected inside of a paper bag, the bag would rise. This discovery led to their invention of the first hot-air balloon in 1782.
On June 5, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers made the first public demonstration of their hot-air balloon at the marketplace in their hometown. The balloon was constructed from multiple sections of cloth and lined with paper that was coated with alum to provide a form of fire-proofing. The sections were held together with approximately two thousand buttons. The fuel to heat the air inside the balloon was a mixture of straw and carded wool. Once released, the balloon stayed in the air for ten minutes, reached an altitude of about 6,560 feet, and traveled a distance of more than 1 mile.
On September 19, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers sent the first living creatures, a duck, a sheep, and a rooster, on a balloon flight in Versailles. Watched by King Louis XVI; his wife, Marie Antoinette; and some 130,000 spectators, the balloon stayed aloft for about 8 minutes, reached a height of 1,640 feet, and safely landed 2 miles from the point of departure. This successful exhibition made the Montgolfier brothers national figures, and a gold medal was issued in their honor.
In Paris, on November 21,1783, the Montgolfier brothers conducted the first untethered human flight. It was manned by Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier, a science teacher, and Marquis Francois-Laurent D’Arlandes. The balloon sailed over Paris for about 25 minutes and traveled approximately 7 miles from the launch site.
In later life, Joseph-Michel invented a type of parachute, a calorimeter, and a hydraulic ram and press. In 1807, he was made a knight of the Legion of Honor. Jacques-Etienne developed a process for producing a new type of paper called vellum. Both brothers were honored by the French Academy of Sciences.
