1-156-868 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Ascent in a captive hot air balloon made by Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier in Paris, 11 October 1783 (1887). From Histoire des Ballons by Gaston Tissandier. (Paris, 1887). In 1785, Pilatre de Rozier (1754-1785) was killed while attempting to be the first to cross the English Channel in a balloon.