A balloon became the first form of flight when, in June 1783, the Montgolfier brothers of Annonay, France found a new use for the paper they manufactured. Their paper and fabric "balloon" rose rapidly when it was held over open fire. The first manned Montgolfier balloon carried a sheep, a duck and a rooster as passengers.

On November 21,1783, two aeronauts, Jean-Francois Piollaatre de Rozer, a physicist, and Major Marquis Francois d'Arlandes of the French Army, were launched aboard a "Montgolfier" for a 25 minute flight. King Louis XVI Queen Marie Antoinette and Benjamin Franklin were among the observers that day.

The first American balloon flight was in Philadelphia on January 9,1794. Jean Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman, lifted off from the yard of the Walnut Street Prison, accompanied by a small black dog. In his gas balloon he attained an altitude of 5,812 feet, traveled for 46 minutes and covered a distance of 15 miles. He landed in woods near Woodbury, NJ.

Balloons were the forerunners of parachutes. Until the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk flight, balloons and airships were the only types of aircraft. Hot air ballooning was revived in the early 1960's with the development of synthetic fabrics such as nylon and Dacron and propane fuel systems.