1From Benjamin Franklin to Joseph Banks, 27 July 1783 (Franklin Papers)
The idea for the hot-air balloon came from Joseph Montgolfier, a scion of the great... ...balloons...
2To Benjamin Franklin from Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, [27 July 1783] (Franklin Papers)
...man who had performed an experiment with a balloon 35 feet in diameter. See the annotation...
3From Benjamin Franklin to Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, 23 August 1783 (Franklin Papers)
...in 1776. Fascinated by the scientific potential of balloons, he went to Lyon in January, 1784...
4To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph Banks, 25 August 1783 (Franklin Papers)
Sir Joseph Banks Balloons
&c...” he reported. Charles’s balloon was being made “upon...
5“Une Abonnée,” [after 27 August 1783] (Franklin Papers)
...and least expensive gas to fill a balloon. In late July, when Montgolfier announced...
6From Benjamin Franklin to Joseph Banks, 30 August[–2 September 1783] (Franklin Papers)
...Académie des sciences, working on his new balloon, and pursuing his business interests as...
7From Benjamin Franklin to Ingenhousz, 2 September 1783 (Franklin Papers)
...of the peasants at Gonesse, where the balloon landed. “Allarme générale des habitants de...
8To Benjamin Franklin from Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, 11 September 1783 (Franklin Papers)
...members of the Académie des sciences a preview of the balloon he had
constructed.