Montgolfier, Joseph Michel


Montgolfier, Joseph Michel

(zhôzĕf` mēshĕl` môNgôlfyā`), 1740–1810, and

Jacques Étienne Montgolfier

(zhäk ātyĕn`), 1745–99, French inventors, brothers. Together they invented the first practical balloonballoon,
lighter-than-air craft without a propulsion system, lifted by inflation of one or more containers with a gas lighter than air or with heated air. During flight, altitude may be gained by discarding ballast (e.g.
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. On June 5, 1783, they sent up at Annonay, near Lyons, a large linen bag inflated with hot air; its flight covered more than a mile and lasted 10 min. In the same year a Montgolfier balloon sailed over Paris in the first manned free balloon flight.