Wicked Balloons Journal
Tag: ballooning history
Jean-Pierre Blanchard and the First Balloon Flight in America
The first balloon flight in America lifted off in 1793 with George Washington watching. Here's the true story of Jean-Pierre Blanchard's historic…
The Piccard Family: Ballooning to the Stratosphere
How an Auguste Piccard balloon reached the stratosphere in 1931 and launched three generations of Piccard family exploration.
Balloons Go to War: Ballooning in the Civil War
How Civil War hot air balloons carried Union and Confederate aeronauts aloft for battlefield reconnaissance in the 1860s.
Double Eagle II: The First Atlantic Balloon Crossing
The story of the Double Eagle II Atlantic crossing, the 1978 flight that made history as the first nonstop balloon trip across…
The First Balloon Crossing of the English Channel
The dramatic 1785 story of the first balloon across the English Channel, when Blanchard and Jeffries nearly fell short of the French…
Who Invented the Hot Air Balloon? The Montgolfier Brothers
Who invented the hot air balloon? Meet Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, the French brothers behind the first flight in 1783.
The First Hot Air Balloon Flight in 1783, Explained
The true story of the first hot air balloon flight in 1783, from the Montgolfier brothers' experiments to Paris's historic manned ascent.
Breitling Orbiter 3 and the Record That Stunned the World
The Breitling Orbiter 3 made history in 1999 as the first balloon to circle the globe nonstop. Here's the story behind the…
The First Nonstop Balloon Flight Around the World
The true story of the first balloon around the world, the 1999 Breitling Orbiter 3 flight, and what it still teaches every…