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Brazilian priest Bartolomeu de Gusmao launched a small paper balloon filled with
1709 Event

August 8

Gusmao Demonstrates Hot Air Lift: 42 Years Before the Montgolfiers

Brazilian priest Bartolomeu de Gusmao launched a small paper balloon filled with hot air before King John V of Portugal and his stunned court in Lisbon. The demonstration proved that heated air could lift objects off the ground, predating the Montgolfier brothers' famous flight by seventy-four years.

August 8, 1709

317 years ago

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