Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel; and Montgolfier, Jacques-Étienne

Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel; and Montgolfier, Jacques-Étienne

(born Aug. 26, 1740, Annonay, France—died June 26, 1810, Balaruc-les-Bains) (born Jan. 6, 1745, Annonay, France—died Aug. 2, 1799, en route from Lyon to Annonay) French designers of the hot-air balloon. The brothers discovered that heated air collected in a lightweight bag would cause the bag to rise. In 1783 they demonstrated their discovery with a balloon that rose 3,000 ft (1,000 m) and remained aloft 10 minutes. Later that year they sent a sheep, a duck, and a rooster up as passengers, and they followed that experiment with the first manned untethered balloon flight.