1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. The Mongolfier Brothers ballooning efforts came up in 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: our recent episode on Raincoats, so we are bringing that 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: out today Today's Saturday Classic. So the term manned flight 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: has become a little bit problematic um in terms of 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: it being gendered language in recent years, So if we 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: were recording this show today, we would have used different phrasing. 7 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: Just def y. I yeah, I don't think that's a 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: thing that we have normally pointed out, but I feel 9 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: like manned flight gets a lot more immediate criticism than 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: the many other gendered terms that are still in use. 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: So just be aware. This originally came out September, so enjoy. 12 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, I 15 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: have fantastic news. What is it? This episode is not creepy, 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: it's not unsettling. I'm starting well, I love all that stuff. 17 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I legit have a very sort of morbid 18 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: and morose taste in many things, even though I'm pretty 19 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: giggly in day to day life. But this one has 20 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: none of that it's just kind of a cool moment 21 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: in the development of human technologies. Hooray. Yeah, you're your 22 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: your episodes were disproportionately jerks there for a while. Yeah, 23 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: these people not jerks to the best of my knowledge, 24 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: which is fantastic. So back in October, we had an 25 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: episode about female balloonists Sophie Blanchard and the balloon omania 26 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: that was gripping Europe at the time. But today we're 27 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: going to talk about the roots of that balloon omania. 28 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: It's pretty close because this was a very explosive moment 29 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: in terms of interest and excitement about air flight. Uh. 30 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about the inventive minds of 31 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: two brothers that really shaped ballooning. And we actually did 32 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: talk about them briefly in the Blanchard episode, but their 33 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: work sort of deserves its own episode. Uh. And the 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: inspiration for this episode actually came from working on a 35 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: house Stuff Works article a while back about drones that 36 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: I was editing. UM and our art department put together 37 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: this really fantastic interactive graphic about the ways humans have 38 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: taken to the skies and unmanned vehicles over the years, 39 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: and one of the earliest points on that clickable timeline 40 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: featured Joseph Michel and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, and so I 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: thought it might be fun to talk about them. Joseph 42 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: Michel was the older of the brothers, born on August 43 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: and Anna A, France. He would go on to go 44 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: by Joseph Jacques, Etienne or Etienne Jacques, depending on which 45 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: the document you're looking at, was generally just called Etienne, 46 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: and he was born about four and a half years 47 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: later on January six, seventy. So for the timeline, if 48 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: you are a fan of our prior, uh, Sophie Blanchard episode, 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: I was about three decades before she was born. Yeah. 50 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: And the discrepancy in terms of talking about Etienne is 51 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: that his name is listed different ways on different documents. 52 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: So his birth certificate and death certificate are opposite. One 53 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: says Jacques Etienne, one says Etienne Jacques. Just heads up 54 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: there if you're like, why, why are they flippy? Uh? 55 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: And in addition to these two brothers, their father, Pierre Mongolfier, 56 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: and their mother and dere had fourteen other kids. Uh. 57 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: That's a lot of children. Unfortunately, Pierre was a very 58 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: successful businessman, so he was able to support that massive family, 59 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: and the way he did so was through a family business, 60 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: because the Mongolfier's owned a number of paper factories in France, 61 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: all of which were doing pretty darn well. Joseph attended 62 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: private school and then Jesuit College, but school just really 63 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: didn't quite agree with him. His mind was really busy 64 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: and he had trouble focusing on one thing, sort of 65 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: like some other people in the room right now. He 66 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: eventually left to start his own chemical business in Paris. 67 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: At the end went to school to be an architect, 68 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: although he was also interested in science, and it wasn't 69 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: long before both he and his brother continued to run 70 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: the family business as adults. At the end was better 71 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: better at the business side of things. He had become 72 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: the head of the family's paper factories at age thirty 73 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: after Pierre retired and their brother Raymond, who had been 74 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: in charge of the business, passed away. Joseph, on the 75 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: other hand, was always interested in innovating and putting his 76 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: chemistry knowledge to work to improve the processes in the 77 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: mills that they owned. Yeah, every time you see any 78 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: mention of Joseph's bus this acumen. Like at one point 79 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: he was running his own chemical business. He was not 80 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: good at that part of it. He tended to lose 81 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: a lot of money because, as we said, well little 82 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: focus issues. But the income from the paper factories would 83 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: give Joseph and Etienne the financial freedom to explore and 84 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: experiment in the science of ballooning. And it's not entirely 85 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: clear why or how the two began thinking about air flight. 86 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: There are so many apocryphal stories about how this happened. 87 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: One was that watching bits of burning paper lift into 88 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: the air from a fire got them started. Another was 89 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: that it was simply watching smoke rise from a fire 90 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: that gave them the inspiration to think about how air 91 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: and smoke and lift worked. And another suggests that Joseph 92 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: was watching his wife's chemise dry over a fire and 93 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: he noticed how the fabric billowed out as warm air 94 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: was trapped underneath it. But we do not know if 95 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: any of those are true or not. They all sound 96 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: like ballooning versions of being hit with an apple, yeah, 97 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: very much, depending on which biography you are looking at. Uh, 98 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: and most modern ones kind of acknowledge. We don't know. 99 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: But some of the older accounts and even accounts that 100 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: the gentleman gave in their lives. They shift a lot, 101 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: and you can tell it's kind of like, we don't know, 102 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: so we're just going to PLoP something here that that 103 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: makes some sort of sense. So that's why we have 104 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: a billion different stories about it. But the important thing 105 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: is they did start thinking about it. In two the 106 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: brothers observed that when heated air was contained in a 107 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: lightweight vessel made of paper or fabric, that vessel would rise. 108 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: They actually thought they had discovered a new type of 109 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: gas that was lighter than air, and they named that 110 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: Montgolfier gas. Their theory was that Mongolfier gas was contained 111 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: in the smoke from the fire and that it possessed 112 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: a property that they called levity, which brightens my day 113 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: a little bit. It's very charming. Of course, over time, 114 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: it would, you know, prove that it was it was 115 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: just the heat that was, you know, making the regular 116 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: air rise, not activating some sort of hidden gas that 117 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: was present in the air. And we should also point 118 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: out that while the Mongolfiers are often credited with inventing ballooning, 119 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: and while we were talking about them specifically at length today, 120 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: they were certainly not the only people experimenting with the 121 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: idea of flight, and they were not even the first 122 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,679 Speaker 1: to be filling lightweight bags with air to make them float. 123 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: Portuguese priest Bartolomeo Lorenzo du Guzmo, which I'm probably butchering, 124 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: was floating small balloons in the early seventeen hundreds, and 125 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: he was working on designs for a much more sophisticated 126 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: airship based on those balloon experiments when he died in 127 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty four. It appears, however, that the Mongolfiers did 128 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: not know about those ballooning experiments going on in Portugal 129 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: earlier in the century. Filling balloons with hot air to 130 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: lift them up was also employed in China, way before 131 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,559 Speaker 1: Europeans ever got this idea. Rising lanterns of this nature 132 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: were common in China as early as the third century, 133 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: So this was a long time before before Europeans were 134 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: even thinking, Hey, maybe if I failed a bag with this, 135 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: it would rise. Yeah. Yeah. Whenever I see like this 136 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: sort of and I know because we both work in 137 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: editing and we do copy that sometimes you just have 138 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: to like cut down extraneous stuff to make a point. 139 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: But whenever I see like a blurb or something that 140 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: says the Mongolfier's first ever, you know, achieve balloon flight. 141 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: I'm like, that needs a whole lot of qualifier, really, 142 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: not um and prior to and during the time that 143 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: Joseph and Etienne were at work on their ballooning efforts, 144 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: there were also so many other of their contemporaries in 145 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: Europe working on similar ideas. And we're mentioning all of 146 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: this just to make clear that while these two gentlemen 147 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: do get a lot of credit for inventing manned flight, 148 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: it might be more accurate to say that they were 149 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: two of many who were working towards that goal at 150 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: the same time, and a bit of lucky timing happened 151 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,839 Speaker 1: to be on their side. In April of three, the 152 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: Monk Alfie has began testing their theories and earnest creating 153 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: various models of balloons from fabric and paper and then 154 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: trying out their air worthiness. They also experimented with different 155 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: flammable media to determine what would burn the best at 156 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: the most controllable rate to heat the air so that 157 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: it didn't just become an alarming conflagration of burning balloon. Yeah, 158 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: there were some instances that happened, and they're testing, but 159 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: on June four three, the brother duo went to the 160 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: n and A marketplace to present their work in heated 161 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: air by way of demonstration. So they set up the 162 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: silk balloon that was lined with paper. It was huge. 163 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: It had a diameter of thirty three feet that's about 164 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: ten meters, and they arranged straw and carded wool beneath 165 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: the balloon. They had determined that burned the best under 166 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: the bags only opening, so then they earned that straw 167 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: in the wall and it heated the air within their vessel. 168 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: I bet this was stinky. Probably it seems like, especially 169 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: the burning wool would be gross. So once the interior 170 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: air was heated, the bag rows up off the ground. 171 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: Estimates placed at an altitude of about three thousand feet 172 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: which is a little more than nine meters at the 173 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: highest that it reached. After staying aloft and drifting for 174 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: about ten minutes, the balloon then drifted back down to earth, 175 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: finally landing about a mile and a half or two 176 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: point four kilometers from the marketplace where they started out 177 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: this demonstration. And this was pretty exciting to everyone, and 178 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: the success of their n n A display led them 179 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: to Paris l Academy decience wanted to hear all about 180 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: the balloon experiments, so Etienne went to give a talk. 181 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: They're about their work, and the pair were honored by 182 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: the Academy for that work. And if you're wondering why 183 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: only Etienne spoke with the Academy in Paris, it was 184 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: because the pair were wanted in many places at once 185 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,559 Speaker 1: once they had done this demonstration, So Joseph was speaking 186 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: at the Lyon Academy at the same time. We're going 187 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: to talk briefly about how very not accidental the success 188 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: of the moncol Fer Brothers was. But first we will 189 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,559 Speaker 1: pause for a brief moment from a sponsor. It sounds grand, 190 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: so all of this attention and praise was not, as 191 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: we mentioned a moment ago, a situation where two gents 192 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: were just goofing about and accidentally found themselves the toast 193 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: of the country. Uh. Keep in mind too, that these 194 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: weren't like super young guys. They were in their thirties 195 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: at this point, so they were strategic thinkers. They were 196 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: very smart men, and they had selected this date for 197 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: their ant and a exhibition to coincide with a meeting 198 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,319 Speaker 1: of local leaders, so that people with some influence could 199 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: witness what they had been working on. Etienne and Joseph 200 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: were hoping to get the attention of the crown and 201 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: launched their careers as scientific elites financially supported by the king, 202 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: and that plan to get the head of the country 203 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: interested in their balloons actually worked. From the presentation in Paris, 204 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: the brothers headed to Versailles to repeat this balloon display 205 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: for King Louis the sixteenth, but this time they aimed 206 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: for a bigger, more ambitious experiment. They wanted to send 207 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: a more structured balloon up and this time have passengers, 208 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: and to execute the project, the Mongolfier's needed help, so 209 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: they called on the skills of wallpaper maker Jean Baptiste Lavillon, 210 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: and with Lavillan's help, they constructed a balloon that was 211 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: slightly smaller than the previous one. It had a diameter 212 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: of thirty ft about nine meters, but this balloon, which 213 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: was also made from tafida, was varnished with alum to 214 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: fireproof it and it had a decorative painted finish. The 215 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: selection of passengers was also a significant step in the process. 216 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,719 Speaker 1: There were some serious concerns about what flight in a 217 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: balloon might do to a body I'm assuming they were 218 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: also worried about what would happen if it crashed, So 219 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: walk King Louis the sixteenth proposed that prisoners be used 220 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: for the test. The Montolfe has decided to go with 221 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,839 Speaker 1: a different plan, And this is kind of one of 222 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: those things that you'll often see cited as a wacky thing, 223 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: but the reasons for it are pretty cool. So those 224 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: first riders in in the Mongolfier balloon baskets, we're not humans. 225 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,480 Speaker 1: They were a duck, a rooster, and a sheep, and 226 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: the logic was that since the duck was a naturally 227 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: flying animal, it was considered something of a control element, 228 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: and the rooster was selected because it was a bird, 229 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: but it was one which flew only short, short distances, 230 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: very close to the ground, so it was like the 231 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: next level of risk up from the duck in terms 232 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: of what its body might be able to handle. And 233 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,560 Speaker 1: then the sheep was believed to be similar enough to 234 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: a human physiologically that its success or failure as a 235 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: passenger would give a pretty clear indication of whether ballooning 236 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: was safe for humankind. Might be the silliest criteria for 237 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: an experiment we have ever talked about I love it, 238 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: though there's a logic to it. It's kind of silly. 239 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: But I always wonder what kept the duck from flying out, 240 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: but that's never covered. It's just I mean, similarly to 241 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: the one that we had about the volcano that the 242 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: people fought by spraying water at it. This whole idea 243 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: of the balloon animal tests just sounds like child logic 244 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: to me. It's like it's like the brainstorming effort of 245 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: a kindergarten class. However, this occasion was anticipated with great excitement. 246 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: About a hundred and thirty thousand people, including the King 247 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: and Marie Antoinette, were on hand to witness this historic moment. 248 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: And it's very odd. Cargo and those three Barnyard aeronauts 249 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: were successfully launched on September nine, eighty three, and they 250 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: flew for eight minutes. So animal lovers in the crowd 251 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: you may have already guessed because I'm giggly about it, 252 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: We'll be happy to know that the feathered and wally 253 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: trio made a perfectly safe landing, although they had drifted 254 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: a p sxtimately two miles that's about three point two 255 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: kilometers while they were making history in the air. I 256 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: hope they weren't scared. I'm sure they were probably a 257 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: little confused and possibly scared. Like I said, I don't 258 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: know why the duck wouldn't just be like I'm out. 259 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: I'd be like, I'm not having your Shenanigans. A world 260 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: of note to this balloon. As the animal experiment had 261 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: gone so well, the Mongolfier brothers were eager to step 262 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: things up and try a balloon carrying actual humans, and 263 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: after a couple of months of prep, on November one, 264 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: they made a history by launching the first manned, untethered 265 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: balloon flight. And the two men who got to experience 266 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: that exhilarating flight were not the Mongolfie brothers. Uh. The 267 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: brothers stayed on the ground and kind of set up 268 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 1: the whole thing though the two people were high profile 269 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: balloon enthusiasts. So One of the men was Jean Flancois 270 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: Pila a Rosier who was a chemist and head of 271 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: the count of Countess de Pouvent's Cabinet of Physics, Chemistry 272 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: and natural History, who was known for his very flamboyant 273 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: approaches to communicating science concepts. He would be a really 274 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: fun topic for the future f y, I he might 275 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: be uh and Palapa Rosier had actually been in the 276 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: balloon before, so about a month prior, on October fifte 277 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: the Mongolfies had launched a tethered test flight with him 278 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: as the human occupant, and that lasted just four minutes. 279 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: The other gentleman was Francois Laurent Marquis Darland, who was 280 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: a soldier and a noble. His inclusion in the event 281 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: is said to have been the result of efforts on 282 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: the part of the king to ensure that someone from 283 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: the nobility was part of this historic moment when human 284 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: flight was achieved. And the balloon itself was a rather 285 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: spectacular looking thing. If you do an Internet search for it, 286 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: you'll see many, many pictures, and there are even modern 287 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: balloons that have been designed to replicate it because it's 288 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,520 Speaker 1: it's so iconic and balloon ing. So it was blue 289 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: with intricate gold designs on the exterior, including symbols that 290 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: were associated with King Louis. Remember they were very into 291 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: currying favor with the king. And the passenger area this 292 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: is kind of the part of it that I really love. 293 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: The passenger area was not a basket like you'd see 294 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: on a balloon, today that sat underneath it, but rather 295 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: a ring around the opening at the bottom of the balloon. Uh, 296 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: where heat could be applied to the air within. So 297 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: you have to picture it's sort of like a flanged bottom, 298 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,239 Speaker 1: and then the flange forms this little ring that that 299 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: the the human occupants could be in, and there was 300 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: also a red bunting around the passenger area. It was 301 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: very festive. They flew for less than half an hour, 302 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 1: about twenty five minutes, and that took them about five 303 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: and a half miles or eight point six kilometers in 304 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,479 Speaker 1: the process. As they rose up into the air, they 305 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: doffed their caps to the spectators below and their balloon 306 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 1: had started. It's it's lift at Chateau de la Meuette 307 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: on the far western side of Paris landed at LaBute Okaya, 308 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: the crowd, which included Benjamin Franklin, was completely woud. Yeah. 309 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: Ben Franklin wrote about them a bit in his his 310 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: accounts of his time in France, so uh, they're on 311 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: record in his writings and ever looking to the next 312 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: level of achievement, the next plan for the French Brothers 313 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: was to carry larger groups of people by air, and 314 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: to that end, just two months after that first untethered flight, 315 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 1: and after a failed start that they had tried to 316 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: make which was derailed by rain in a small fire, 317 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,160 Speaker 1: they did launch a balloon carrying Joseph and several passengers 318 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: into the air in Lyon, France, on January nineteen eighty four. 319 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: This balloon was massive. It was a hundred and thirty 320 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: feet about forty meters in diameter. Uh, and they're landing 321 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: on this one was not ideal because the air in 322 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 1: the balloon cooled really rapidly and it caused a much 323 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:58,199 Speaker 1: speedier descent than they were planning. But everyone did make 324 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: it back safely, although they had only been in year 325 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: for about fifteen minutes. However, even with their increasing triumphs, 326 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: the mongolfiers and other ballooning enthusiasts who were attempting their 327 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: own projects at flight started running into the same problems 328 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,240 Speaker 1: over and over. And for one thing, they hadn't figured 329 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,600 Speaker 1: out how to steer the balloons. They would pretty much 330 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: go up and then be at the mercy of the air. 331 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: For another, the altitude that a balloon could reach and 332 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: the distance that it could travel were limited by the 333 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: air in the balloon, which of course was cooling off 334 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,760 Speaker 1: over time, and concerns about fire initially led people away 335 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: from the idea of keeping some sort of onboard flame 336 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 1: going to stay in the air, and so alternate gases 337 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: were considered. Uh, this is part of why just ten 338 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: days after the Mongolfier sent Pila Rosier and Laurent Aloft 339 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: for the first time, another inventor, Jacques Alexembles ces au Chao, 340 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: launched the first manned hydrogen filled balloon, which is a 341 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:04,199 Speaker 1: terrible idea. Well, it had its pluses and minus for 342 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: the folks who ultimately yes, yeah for the folks who 343 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: remember our Hindenburg episode, Yeah, Chills had been working with 344 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: hydrogen throughout the time that the mongolf Yer's had been 345 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: developing their balloons. He actually started doing this because he 346 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: thought that was what they were doing. And although the 347 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: brothers barely beat him to manned flight, his December one 348 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: Sight three launch flew twenty seven miles which is forty 349 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: three point five kilometers, and it lasted for two hours. 350 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: This was quickly recognized as a superior way to get 351 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,320 Speaker 1: people into the air. Yeah, so at that point everyone 352 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:44,479 Speaker 1: was like, hydrogen is where it's at. On June fifteenth, however, 353 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: of seventy five, tragedy struck the ballooning world when Jean 354 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:53,199 Speaker 1: Francois pla Rosier died in a ballooning accident. He was 355 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: crossing the English Channel in a balloon which was filled 356 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: with a combination of hot air and hydrogen when it exploded, 357 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: and so less than two years after he made history 358 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: in untethered flight, the hobby for which he held so 359 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: much enthusiasm claimed his life and also made him its 360 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: first fatality. Next up, we will talk a little about 361 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: how all this balloon business was affecting the fashion culture 362 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: of France. But before we get into hats and hair news, 363 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: let's pause and talk about one of our fabulous sponsors. 364 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 1: While all of this amazing stuff was going on, it 365 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: was incredibly exciting to Europe, but especially to France since 366 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: a lot of the big steps were happening there, and 367 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: soon balloon themed items were popping up everywhere. There were 368 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:52,120 Speaker 1: balloon motifs on almost everything that you could imagine, including clothing. 369 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,440 Speaker 1: I would totally go for a T shirt with that 370 00:21:55,520 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: first animal crew as balloon passengers, I would too. Everything 371 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 1: from embroidered motifs to hats designed to look like balloons 372 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: became really trendy and fashionable. The hairstyles that women started wearing, 373 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: especially if they were fans of balloon ing, were sometimes 374 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: styled into these bulbous shapes to look like balloons. People were, 375 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: in shortgoing sort of bananas with balloon fashion, to the 376 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: point that a satirical cartoon entitled lum oh ballon lafolly 377 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: du jour, that's the Man of balloons or the folly 378 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: of the day was published. And this illustration features a 379 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: gentleman wearing basically balloon everything. His shirt and pantaloons are 380 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: drawn to mimic the shape of balloons, and his coat 381 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: is adorned with both balloon cuffs and balloon buttons, and 382 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 1: his ebulets and shoe buckles and hair adornments are all balloons, 383 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: and in lieu of a cocade, a mini balloon sits 384 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: as a decorative element on his hat. And while all 385 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: of this fascination with balloon fashion started in Ants, it 386 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: quickly started to spread to London and New York over 387 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: the course of seventeen eighty three and sev four. But 388 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: of course fashion is pretty fickle. The more outlandish the trend, 389 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: often the shorter it's lifespan, so By the time balloon 390 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: everything had become popular with the medal class, the trend 391 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: setters who had initially adopted it were done with balloons. 392 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: Balloons over next moving on to ships. Uh, yeah, it's 393 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: started fabulous. There's a if you There was actually a 394 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: hat called him on Golfier hat which was inspired by 395 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: balloon ing has kind of a big poofy crown on it. 396 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: You're into it. But going back to them on golf 397 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 1: Ye specifically, the issues that they were encountering in their 398 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: balloon development efforts, particularly the flight control, eventually led the 399 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,919 Speaker 1: brothers away from ballooning. They kind of felt like they 400 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: had done as much as they could do, but their 401 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: careers in science and invention did not end there. A 402 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 1: longside balloon development, the Mongolfier had also been working on 403 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: parachute ideas, which sounds like a good companion to ballooning Joseph. 404 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: Joseph eventually designed one that consisted of a dozen fabric 405 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: panels stitched together and attached to a basket which was 406 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: cushioned with inflatable pig ladders. They tested this parachute by 407 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: dropping a sheep from from a tower in it maybe 408 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: not the most humane like like they were. I mean already, 409 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 1: I'm a little both children, both charmed and upset by 410 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: sending animals up in the balloon. But I'm more upset 411 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: by throwing a sheep off a tower. I actually was 412 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: too when I was researching this, and I did not 413 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: see anything definitive about how the sheep fared in all 414 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: of that. But in their minds, since they had already 415 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: established that sheep were similar enough to humans to make 416 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: a broad sort of comparison in terms of safety, I 417 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: guess that was the most plausible he or I think, 418 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 1: when we're done recording, I'm gonna just make a little 419 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: comparison chart of sheep and human figure out how exactly 420 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,880 Speaker 1: are we that similar. But after they stepped away from ballooning, 421 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: Etienne went back to the family business. As you recall, 422 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: he was the one that really had a head for 423 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 1: businesses and was quite good at it, and he made 424 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: strides in the paper industry when he invented a vellum 425 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: production process. He was also recognized as a leader in 426 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: the field of paper production, and he was given the 427 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: title Manufacturer Royale, which basically meant he was at the 428 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: top of his field, and perhaps his greatest achievement, though 429 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: in this period of his life was keeping that business 430 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: running successfully throughout the turmoil of the revolution and the 431 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: economic tumult that gripped France in the wake of the 432 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: power shift. He also got involved in community and government 433 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: and eventually became the paymaster of the French War Department. 434 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: He was serving in that position at the Lyon office 435 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: when he became ill and decided to travel home to 436 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: ann and A, and en route he got so ill 437 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: that he decided to stop and he actually died on 438 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: August two sev Yeah, he was near Serrere at the time. Uh. 439 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: And as for Joseph, he went on to invent a 440 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: liquid distilling apparatus that could function at reduced pressure and 441 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: temperature compared to others UH. And he also invented an 442 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: application of that device that could be used to dry fruits. 443 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: And he also invented a hydraulic ram that was used 444 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 1: for raising water. So he really was doing a lot 445 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: of interesting things. And for those accomplishments, he was made 446 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,920 Speaker 1: a member of France's Legion of Honor, and he was 447 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: appointed to the Institute of France. And he basically worked 448 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,719 Speaker 1: constantly as both an inventor and a lecturer until eighteen 449 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: o nine, when he retired due to failing health. In 450 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: June of eighteen ten, he traveled to Balarue, cleban in 451 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: the hopes that the curative waters there would improve his condition, 452 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: but in fact he died there on June. And the 453 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: paper company that was in the Mongolfier family is actually 454 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: still in business, although after changing names to cancel On 455 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: Emmagoulfier and now it is just cancel On. Yeah, I 456 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: kind of love that it's still going on. I read 457 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: a thing but didn't verify it, so don't take this 458 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: as fact that it is in the midst of possibly 459 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: being purchased. So by the end of this year it 460 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: might be owned by a different company, and I don't 461 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: know if it will change names, but right now it 462 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,560 Speaker 1: is cancel Paper and it still exists and has been 463 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,200 Speaker 1: around since the early seventeen hundreds. I was going to 464 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: say Unilever, because it seems like every consumer product we 465 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: talked about ultimately ends up. No, it's an Italian company 466 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: that I think is allegedly buying them. They primarily focus 467 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: on making art papers. It's not like a business paper 468 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: manufacturer nice, so it's a little bit different kind of business. 469 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: Not quite not quite what you might think of when 470 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: you think of business that's being bought by another big business. 471 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: It's a little different. And plus if you like if 472 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: you like art supplies, then they who doesn't like art supplies? 473 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 1: I do. Even though I'm bad at art. Nobody is 474 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: automatically very few people are automatically really good at art. 475 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: I know a lot of artists. Uh. We actually did 476 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: an interview for House Touff Works. This will be my 477 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: art proselytizing moment that I think everybody should try it. 478 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: We did an interview with Brian Stelfreese, who is a 479 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: well known comic book artist and has been working on 480 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: the Black Panther comic. And one of the things that 481 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: came up in our interview when I asked if he 482 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,120 Speaker 1: just ever has that moment of like, man, I'm super 483 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: good at this, and he said, you know what, I 484 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 1: don't have natural talent. He has a brother that is very, 485 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: very talented, and he said, mine is just years and 486 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: years of practice and skill and learning that masquerades as 487 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: talent to people that do not know that I have 488 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: put in all that time. But he's kind of like 489 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: the tale of if you love something and you really 490 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: work at it, you can just become skilled at it. 491 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: Here's what happens to me at art Supplas. Stars buy 492 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: beautiful paper and pens. I bring them home and then 493 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: they go into drawer. Uh, you are an artful consumer. 494 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: That kind of am Bay so much for joining us 495 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 496 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook U 497 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: r L or something similar over the course of the show, 498 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,479 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete. Now. Our current email address is 499 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. Our old 500 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: house stuff works email address no longer works, and you 501 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in 502 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: History and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 503 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the I heart Radio app, and wherever else 504 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff You Missed in History Class 505 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 506 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 507 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 508 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: M