On November 21, 1783, an-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes, flew over Paris for 25 minutes in a hot air balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers.
It was the first manned flight in history.
Happy Birthday!
On November 21, 1783, an-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d’Arlandes, flew over Paris for 25 minutes in a hot air balloon built by the Montgolfier brothers.
It was the first manned flight in history.
Happy Birthday!
From:
http://www.eballoon.org/flights/champagne-balloon-flights.html
“There is a long standing tradition in ballooning that after the flight the passengers and crew have a reception and enjoy some Champagne. There is actually a reason behind this that dates back to the 1780s, when the first balloon flights were staged.â€
“On one of the first successfully manned balloon flights, the pilots carried along a bottle of champagne to enjoy on the flight but instead of actually drinking it, they had to use it as an offer to goodwill to the farmers whose field their balloon had landed in. The champagne convinced the farmers that they were not in fact demons and acted as an apology for disturbing the land and animals grazing in the field.â€
Cheers, a bientôt and as us Latvians say, prozīt.