First manned balloon flight in the Americas

On January 9, 1793, the French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard lifted off from the yard of Philadelphia’s Walnut Street prison in a hydrogen-filled silk balloon. It was the first manned free flight ever made in North America.

The send-off was presidential. George Washington watched from the crowd and handed Blanchard a letter of introduction—useful, since the aeronaut spoke no English and had no idea where he would land. That note effectively became the continent’s first piece of airmail.

The voyage lasted under an hour, carrying Blanchard roughly 15 miles across the Delaware River to Deptford Township, New Jersey. Aboard were scientific instruments and, by some accounts, a small dog.

Blanchard, a seasoned showman who had already crossed the English Channel by balloon in 1785, helped ignite American fascination with flight more than a century before the Wright brothers reached Kitty Hawk.