Today is the 267th birthday of one Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, who with his brother Joseph-Michele pioneered the first manned lighter than air flight. The Chinese had been using hot-air powered signal lanterns since the time of the Three Kingdoms, but it was the Montgolfier Brothers who were the first to send man skyward using the technology.
Joseph, a born genius and head of the family's paper manufacturing business was inspired when he was laundry drying over a fire rise. He recruited Etienne to his subsequent experiments, and their progress would be mirrored by the space program centuries later. First they proved they could lift off, then they sent some animals up to make sure being so high didn't kill you, then on October 15, 1783 Etienne became the first man to ascend in flight.
Lighter than air travel has always fascinated us, so in honor of aeronaut numero uno, here's seven tunes that Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier made possible.
We've talked about this incredible steampunk send up of the Lonely Island's classic hit "I'm on a Boat" before, but it never hurts to try and bring the awesomeness of Steampunk Fett and Victorian-era hip hop to a new audience.
Though not really a song about balloons, the video features an amazing airship adventure. Incidentally, did you know that this iconic video only exists because the Pumpkins' original idea was something almost identical to the video the Red Hot Chili Peppers did for "Aeroplane?" Once they saw the Chili Peppers' work they had to come up with another, and in our opinion far superior, idea.
There's not a person out there who has ever seen the iconic Goodyear Blimp and not thought about how awesome it would be to just jump in and take the controls. The best you can hope for is to live vicariously through Book of Changes.
