Who Invented the Hot Air Balloon?

[@A_Dopamine_Molecule]

I like how this channel answers questions that I never knew I wanted answers to. And thank you for the frequent uploads, I can imagine how much work it is.

[@TodayIFoundOut]

You're very welcome. :-) We have a big and very talented team here, so it works out so far. :-) Although soon enough we'll need to expand to meet our content goals and keep the daily format! :-) -Daven

[@NazriB]

Lies again? AIA Money USD SGD

[@subashpahari5896]

​@TodayIFoundOut

[@missakay9593]

I love this channel so much! Look forward to every video and always walk away learning something new ^_^

[@LeoStaley]

Yes, I think it would have been an exaggeration to say the duck was astonished. Probably thinking, ooh how impressive, lol, but can you do it with wings?

[@francoislacombe9071]

Just a little detail. It was king Louis XIV who was called the Sun King, not Louis XVI

[@martinconrad9260]

You beat me to it by an hour! :)

[@stephenwilhelm]

He's got more important things to do than remember his bloody number! (From "The Golden Age of Ballooning", a BBC documentary by Monty Python.)

[@Uknow365]

@@stephenwilhelm But if he's making a video, he has to pass on the right information

[@kenxclout]

I was going to invest in a hot air balloon..... but it's a bit up in the air at the moment

[@pantslizard]

I think you're just full of hot air...

[@brantleyhester6641]

pantslizard damn I just made the same joke in his other comment on here. Can't be original anymore

[@robertt9342]

I can see this investment going up, up, up.

[@BertGrink]

You could say that the answer is blowing in the wind, eh?

[@richardbidinger2577]

Too many ups and downs in the market for me.

[@aa5df]

You are correct that Per Linstrand and Richard Branson were the first to fly a hot-air balloon across the Atlantic in 1987 and the Pacific in 1991. However, you have some confusion about the first around-the-world balloon flights. Steve Fossett was not the first to fly a balloon around the world. He was the first to fly solo, but the first flight in a balloon around the world was made in March 1999 by Bertrand Piccard (the same pilot of Solar Impulse) and Brian Jones in the Breitling Orbiter 3. Yet, none of these around-the-world flights were made by hot-air balloon. Instead they were a combined hot-air and gas balloon known as a Rozier balloon named after Pilatre de Rozier who was the first fatality in ballooning while flying the same type balloon which holds his name. To date, no hot-air balloon has flown around the world.

[@MsBlancaZ]

The Shenandoah crashed near my hometown. It's weird hearing about something so familiar on a channel I watch every night. Keep up all the great videos!

[@pgoeds7420]

I saw the film with James Stewart, Strother Martin and Katharine Ross.

[@kenxclout]

Simon I recently just got fired at the calendar factory for taking days off, but I just got a job working with hot air balloons. It has its highs and lows but I like it so far 😉

[@brantleyhester6641]

Ken Fulton {Baby Elder} Man, I don't know you sound full of hot air

[@michaeljohnston6856]

You’re terrified of heights admit it

[@michaeljohnston6856]

Ken Fulton {Baby Elder} you’re afraid of heights admit it. Lol

[@chrisstone9242]

i already know who made the hot air balloon from the documentary "Avatar: the last Airbender" his name is sokka and he is from the water tribe...

[@jonasjiller]

In French, a "hot air balloon" is called a "mongolfière", after the inventors with the same last name. Therefore, French speakers DO remember who first came up with this mode of transport.

[@KimberlyGreen]

Bonus fact: The highest skydive ever performed was from a balloon as well.

[@AJ-ut8cz]

Helium balloon. Btw if your thinking of felix Baumgartner that record was recently broken by a google executive who was just hanging from a helium balloon in a harness.

[@KimberlyGreen]

@@AJ-ut8cz No, I was not referring to Felix, but rather Mr. Eustace.

[@AJ-ut8cz]

@@KimberlyGreen Ok. Just checking, these records get passed all the time. Like this year a Russian balloonist is going to try and go over 115k feet in just a hot air balloon.

[@MmeHyraelle]

In french this is more common knowledge, as hot air ballon is called a montgolfière.

[@theorganguy]

And hybrid balloons are still known as Rozières

[@TheT0N1c]

When was ice cream invented? What were the First ice cream flavors? When did Vanilla become the standard ice cream flavor?

[@nomadbynature8811]

It can't be proven but there's some discussion that the people who made the Nazca lines may have had hot air balloons. It's said they certainly had the ability but there's no evidence they actually did. Though it does give a feasible reason for such large ground based art work.

[@aa5df]

You would be referring to Julian Nott and Jim Woodman . www.nott.com/nazca/

[@nomadbynature8811]

@@aa5df Yes! Exactly this. Thank you for sharing this article with me.

[@tomitiustritus6672]

Well, either this incredible specific hypothesis without evidence, or they just calculated really good and exectuted the drawing carefully by that plan. Something humans that people could pull off waayy before they figured hot air balloons out. Theres neolithic structures of similar scales that draw precise patterns into the landscape that aren't visible from the ground. And i don't think they had hot air balloons too.

[@LisaBowers]

_Sooo,_ a duck, a rooster and a sheep get into a hotair balloon... Sounds like the makings of a good joke.

[@saxonjedi5878]

Agreed

[@justdueit6199]

At which point the duck jumps out of the basket flies away. He then says " sorry about this! put your funerals on my bill."

[@scronyx]

I already knew all of this as I have watched Monty Pythons: The golden age of ballooning.

[@ChandlerBiloxi]

This article had narry a mention of all the baths and Louis the XXIII

[@sirsavagethe21st56]

Bald british guys have the answers to every question, cheers lad.

[@ladyofthemasque]

"Man first ventured into the heavens"...in Ancient China, where prisoners were given the option of testing kites capable of lifting a human into the air. If they survived, they were set free. (IF they survived.) That line should be "Man first ventured into the heavens in balloons."

[@schristy3637]

The 5th Dimension. Up, Up and Away and away My beautiful, my beautiful balloon.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

The animals were selected because they are comfortable at different altitudes. Ducks fly high, roosters fly low, and sheep don't fly at all. It was a poorly thought through experimental design.

[@Treblaine]

"Lets get naked.... oh yeah lets NOW get rid of this heavy iron anchor"

[@uyhgar369]

When I was a child my grandfather reade a story about a Chinese emperor who put people up in a balloon and they would often come back frozen. I think he was searching for immortality. I can't remember where this story was from he used to read us stories out of readers digest.

[@ruthmeow4262]

"With flight...comes danger." Yep, because whatever goes up always comes down. And how you come down is not always under your control...

[@mennolente4807]

Just missing the ground would be your best shot.

[@AJ-ut8cz]

So this is the story commercial balloonists tell to the passengers after every flight while the chase crew is packing up the balloon. Hot air ballooning started when two brothers who owned a paper factory were sitting around the fire and noticed that when they threw crumpled paper into the fire little particles would float up with the smoke, and so they tried capturing the smoke with a small bag. When they would let go of the bag it would float upwards. The problem was when they tried to make larger balloons out of paper they would either rip or catch fire. So they figured they would try using silk as it was the only fabric light enough with a low enough porosity to work. One problem though, the king owned all the silk. So they went to the king to request the required silk. The king granted their request under the condition that the first manned flight take off from Versailles and the balloon should have his face on it to tell the people of France it was friendly. First they had to do a test flight and so they built a small balloon and attached a cage, and in the cage they put the 3 animals. When the balloon landed the cage broke open but the animals had survived, so now the brothers knew you could survive above the clouds. And so on november 21st 1783 they prepared the balloon for flight. The passengers were going to be two prisoners who (if they survived) would earn their freedom. But two nobelmen by the names of Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes had another idea. They didn't like the idea of letting two prisoners have all the glory, and so they got the king to approve them going on the flight. On the day of the flight the two got drunk and eventually went over to the balloon, where they got in and amidst a chorus of fanfare were cut loose. As the balloon flew away over the crowds Pilâtre shouted his name "I am Pilâtre! I am Pilâtre" and from that day forward anyone who commands an aircraft was known as a pilote or in English a pilot. The pair came in to land in a farmers field where they knocked down a wall and destroyed some crops. But the farmer never having seen a balloon before, did what we all would have done, he lost his shit. If you were to see this giant thing with a face coming out of the sky bellowing smoke and fire, what would you have thought it was? Because that farmer thought it was a dragon, and he grabbed his pitchfork and went out and slayed that dragon by ripping it to shreds. Now I don't know if you've ever destroyed the largest potrait of the king and queen ever made thinking it was a dragon, but that farmer had, and he was sentenced to death for it. But a bunch of nobel men who wanted to go ballooning without everyone hating them convinced the king that if they rewarded people for letting balloons land on their farms, then pilots would have an easier time getting their balloons back. So the king gave the farmer a 2 week vacation at Versailles and repaid the damages ten fold, but then there were more claims of balloon landings than actual balloons existed. So the king told the pilots they would have to handle payment in the field, and they started carrying gold but after a few robberies they figured they'd have to use something that could be rendered worthless in a few seconds. So they started carrying champagne with them, not only was it as good as gold but it also proved you were French and you could not only pour out the valuable part but also use the container as a weapon in the case of really angry land owners. And that is where carrying champagne came from. At this point we normally do a toast and say the balloonist prayer that was written by a Irish monk who always had perfect flights and always said this prayer. The Winds have Welcomed you with softness. The Sun has blessed you with its warm hands. You have flown so high and so well that God has joined you in your laughter and set you gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth. Theres also a joke chase crew prayer The wind has cursed you with swiftness The sun has scorched you with its hot glare You have flown so fast and so far that your crew will never find you And they drank all your beer and crashed your truck.

[@martinconrad9260]

7:42 Is it Lowe's flights during the American Civil War that gave rise (pun intended) to the expression "the balloon going up", meaning "the beginning of hostilities"?

[@michaeljohnston6856]

Great video. I just got into this channel and I love it, love how it talked about stuff all over the world.

[@AJ-ut8cz]

Quick correction. The flight with the animals was not in the balloon with all the artwork on it, that balloon was only used for the first manned flight.

[@zippythinginvention]

The account I read of the Shenandoah diets somewhat from what you describe here. I thought it was drawn to high altitude by rising air in stormy weather. The crew responded by dumping helium, which caused the craft to lose altitude too quickly. They then dumped ballast and the resulting uncontrollable flight resulted in the ship being torn in half. Someone in the tail section had some ballooning experience and managed to land that portion, saving all aboard. The getting half landed more haphazardly, but most survived that as well. Also, this airship and the Acron were given to the US by Germany after the end of ww2, by the Zeppelin corporation. Also, I do not think these gifts were the first helium-filled Zeppelins. As, the Hindenburg was originally designed to use helium but the promise supply of lifting gas was denied by the US. This is all off the top of my head. But, if you'd like to elaborate in an upcoming episode, I'd love to see it. If you do so, it is also interesting to note that the Hindenburg caught fire at the end of its first flight for its second season after a completely successful first season. The odds of this happening over the landing site, in front of an audience was incredible. Furthermore the event was recorded by the first film camera ever used in conjunction with audio recording equipment. The audio recorder was housed in a bunker, some distance from the movie camera. Also, that was the same year that fixed-wing aircraft would take passengers on transatlantic flights. Also, hydrogen airships were notoriously difficult to ignite. The British are said to have invented incendiary bullets specifically for this purpose. And, though several Zeppelins limped back to Germany riddled with holes, none were ever shot down or caught on fire. Very interesting stuff. I hope you'll run with it. Thanks for all your good work,

[@gregmtech]

today you'll find out :P the sun king was louis XIV not XVI ;) as allways though ; great vid.

[@ernestcole1309]

Question for a possible future video: What's the fastest astronauts can make a round trip to the moon and back?

[@herzogsbuick]

Steve Fossett was *not* the first person to go around the world in a balloon: that honor goes to Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 in March 1999. Steve Fossett was, however, the first person to go around the world in a balloon *solo*

[@Aramis419]

Of course we found it interesting! You’re a great storyteller!

[@laurakuhn8743]

I have known about the Brothers M. for years.....but never knew how to pronounce their name, untill now. The Confederacy did eventually have a balloon of it's own. Not having money to spare for it, the women donated their silk under clothes and sewed them into shape. The balloon was said to resemble a patchwork quilt.

[@michaelsean9530]

The mail went before the brandy. 🤣

[@hellishgrin4604]

Well, you know what they say. When life gives you lemons, just remember that you don’t need a license to fly a hot air ballon!

[@aa5df]

Actually, you need very much the same certification as you need to fly an airplane.

[@hellishgrin4604]

Please Complete All Fields At least 7.

[@hellishgrin4604]

Tim Baggett “just remember that don’t need a license to (illegally) fly a hit air balloon!”. I thought it fell under one of those weird ultralight limited power/weight/speed/distance/altitude categories or something...?

[@Henchman1977]

Most domesticated ducks can't fly, so a hot air balloon ride may still have been astonishing for the duck.

[@thirstfast1025]

What an up-lifting video!

[@jezeski2011]

*groan

[@nickgehr6916]

I don't know who invented it, but I'm 100% sure he didn't say "First"

[@darter9000]

Zenn Lozanno maybe he said “Primero!”

[@biancaj2311]

Proud of myself, I said Montgolphier. But thankyou for the extra info surrounding it :) I now know more.

[@justadude8297]

The duck who literally migrate around the world without equipment and people say it was astonished: Brrruuuuuhhhhhhhh

[@karenhaller9988]

Sokka did, of course. Everyone knows that.

[@me_MadMel]

Uhuul! Baloons!!! I'm weirdly fascinated by these amazing ethereal floating objects

[@justicetaylor2695]

Speaking of airships I've heard rumors there are luxury airships that are light floating yats, those mini luxury cruise ships. One 3D model made it look like they could even hold a top side swimming pool. The Yu Gi Oh anime even featured an airship like that for players to duel on top of out in open cloudy weather.

[@MahraiZiller]

Please do a video on John Gillespie Magee Jr and his poem “High Flight” (which you referenced at the beginning of the video, and which President Reagan paraphrased in his eulogy to the crew of the Challenger Space Shuttle).

[@howlinhobbit]

Simon, I saw the video's title and let go of a little whoop because Montgolfier popped right up from the massive amount of useless trivia in my fading brain. of course you then proceeded to fill out the backstory in your own inimitable style. I'd be disappointed except for the fact that I really enjoy learning. so I'm marking this one down as a win.

[@zhubajie6940]

My brother still has a piece of aluminum struts from the Shenandoah passed down from my grandfather.

[@TrishaSmith]

I’d love it if you could find out 1) why dark coloured food tastes stronger than light coloured food? (Ex. black vs white grapes). 2) when did the name willie mean penis?

[@joeywall4657]

What an exciting time.

[@robiulahmed]

My great great great grandfather invented the cold air balloon, but it never really took off.

[@garyhoppenjan2116]

Simon you have the best job ever I have enjoyed seeing you and your channel all the time keep up the great work

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

Simon, can you do an episode on why the UK (and their former colonies) drive on the wrong side of the road? Everyone else drives on the right side, and I'm curious why this is. I've heard it has to do with horses and jousting, but no other European countries drive on the left, so I don't see how that can be the answer.

[@jimbegin6554]

Excellent!

[@falldown7xstandup8x]

Best part of the day

[@duchi882]

*I remember the time* The first time I saw a Hot Air Balloon was in Mr. Bean the Animated series

[@ste9474]

TYPO: 5:25 - Lowered not slowered :)

[@pauldavison7858]

The USA Civil War was not the first use of balloons in war. It was, June 26, 1794: First military use of balloons in Battle of Fleurus.

[@ChannelVideoYoutube]

Hey man you keep the content coming! Btw kinder joy eggs are huge in Us now seen your vid

[@bluedeath996]

I have possibly a stupid question. In films, many vessels have a self-destruct system. Is there any history to this being done in real vehicles or military bases? I know that unmanned satellites often have something to destroy them when they become obsolete.

[@MrMalthusMusic]

The ladies on the "Stuff you missed in history class" podcast also did a great show on this subject a while back if anyone is interested to hear an alternative take on the Montgolfier brothers exploits. Cheers Simon and the team

[@slippery_slobber]

Bartolomeu de Gusmão was Brazilian. Not Pork’n’cheese.

[@europeanamerican4253]

It was obviously a person of European decent.

[@AndrewJoyce86]

Nazis fuck off.

[@schusterlehrling]

In Europe every child knows the name Montgolfier and what they achieved.

[@miranda.cooper]

Who was the inventor of the wheel and when was it invented?

[@auro1986]

do you still need to light fire for the balloon with the air so polluted and hot?

[@ashantahawkins8939]

Hot Air Balloon Envelope

[@MatthewHarrold]

Alright Simon, rewatch your first 15 seconds with the mindset of someone who remembers Kenny Everett. I think you channeled his vibe nicely. And yet ... (shifting knee cross) ... $0.02.

[@dankauffman8568]

It has been reported that a fellow spectator asked Mr. Franklin what good it was . He replied " What good is a new born babe ? "

[@guitardavepdx]

So fun. I love how you deliver humor in such a a matter of fact way. It reminds me if old school news casting meetings Welcome to Nightvale

[@andrzejconner676]

Also, check out the hot air balloon that Steve Fossett used in 2002 to circumnavigate the Earth.

[@JoshDirschka]

TIFO: "Why do we say someone got 'fired' from a job"? Where did the term getting 'fired' when someone loses a job come from & why? Thank you.

[@Zeropainter420]

I always wondered if there were hot air ballon dog fights

[@justicetaylor2695]

In Avatar the Last Airbender, the hot air balloon had its invention stalled behind first inventing super gymnastic tanks that could grapple hook up icy mountains and reorient their cabins when tipped over. Plus, a giant super wall drill was invented before said balloon as well. It took Saka to talk just a little sense into some crazy tank inventor to complete the hot air balloon blue print. But as soon as the fire nation got it they made giant armored zeppelins from which to bomb the heroes.

[@stevenholt458]

It's the hot air balloon festival in my tiny village this month.

[@remalm3670]

... Here!, Here! man...Good Show!..☺...

[@jasonhatt4295]

7:53 It's kind of surprising it took so long for them to use it for the military

[@kristofantal8801]

There are no surprises here, just that he says it wrong! LOL He did not look properly for the military use of the balloons... The first military use of the hot air balloon was at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was a secret "weapon" of the French. :) :P upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Bataille_de_Fleurus_1794.JPG

[@jasonhatt4295]

@@kristofantal8801 Ahhh a secret weapon! Good find! That's interesting

[@kristofantal8801]

And the hot air balloon used in the Battle of Fleurus is thus the first military aircraft in history!

[@kristofantal8801]

@@jasonhatt4295 Willingly! However, the "secret weapon" should be treated in quotation marks. Hot air balloons were already known to people in Europe, of course, but ballons had not been used militarily by that point. In this battle, the balloon could have hit the enemy with the power of surprise, this is how the secret weapon should be understood. By the way, even before the 18th century, people had thought about using "aircrafts" in war, but according to our current knowledge, no one had gone beyond concept or plans.

[@jasonhatt4295]

@@kristofantal8801 Yeah they might've known a little bit about balloons but they sure weren't expecting one to be used for those purposes! Some people probably went the whole war back then without looking up!

[@Mr.Beauregarde]

Kentucky, good sir, is a Commonwealth

[@0NlRAPTOR]

Confirmation once again that the Highlander Series was a good source for history.

[@legobrickstopmotiontheater3229]

I actually knew this because of a Monty Python sketch. 🤣 Who knew they did research.

[@tncorgi92]

Ah, yes, the Golden Age of Ballooning.

[@TRAVELLINGCHANNEL1]

Bartolomeu de Gusmão was Brazilian from Santos.

[@jacqueplett1800]

Here all along I thought it was the wizard in the Wizard of Oz ☺☺☺

[@ErikBramsen]

Louis XVI wasn't known as the Sun King, that was Louis XIV.

[@martinconrad9260]

YOU beat me to it by 10 minutes!

[@jamesmann193]

I was 99% sure about this, but needed to scroll through the comments to receive confirmation.

[@scar3fr3ak]

Simon, I'm hungry... I'm going to get some lunch soon.

[@heyyou5189]

I saw the Spam balloon flying over Vermont

[@hicx8734]

I played the hot air balloon mission on Red Dead Redemption 2 today so I was actually just wondering about this😂😂😂

[@longforgotten4823]

“Sir, we should probably not fly today. Ohio’s weather would make this very difficult and possibly deadly. In “military brass, “money equals necessary losses.“

[@arneldobumatay3702]

This makes me wonder why modern "tourist" hot air balloons have wicker baskets. Lighter, cheaper, traditional?

[@omundodosdinossauros6836]

Man, Bartolomeu de Gusmão, born in Santos, Brazil

[@dissturbbed]

“Most shot at man” 😝

[@Hykje]

Hans gets closer to God and God puts a restraining order on him.

[@twelvewingproductions7508]

Good thing the tradition of taking your clothes off after a balloon ride never caught on.

[@MargaritaOnTheRox]

No mention of the International Balloon Fiesta?

[@kristofantal8801]

Your claim that when the hot air balloon was first used for military purposes is completely wrong!!! The first military use of the hot air balloon was at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars! upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Bataille_de_Fleurus_1794.JPG

[@xavierbrock4126]

Hello Simon.

[@adrianosioradain]

first air disaster was in 1785 when a hot air balloon caught fire, dropped and set fire to the whole town..

[@invaderraven1]

Im watching this knowing im transporting the navys last airship

[@davidtrestrail3963]

Montgolfier brothers

[@primoroy]

I thought Cantinflas and David Niven were the first to go around the world in a hot air balloon in 1873? 😮😅😂🤣

[@Souchirouu]

Question: Why do we say "used as a guinea pig" if you where part of an experiment even though I've never actually heard of any research using guinea pigs?

[@judyl.761]

A single sheep is called a lamb.