Hot Air Balloon Basket

Here Ricky poses by a hot air balloon basket on display at the Evergreen Aviaiton Museum.

In 1960, the evolution of the hot air balloon flared in one bright burst after 177 years of virtually static advancement. Since brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier launched the first unmanned hot air balloon in France in 1783, comparatively little progress had been made in ballooning. But that all changed in October of 1960 when some imaginative people launched the first manned hot air balloon flight with a continuous burner source and petroleum fuel -- the birth of the modern day balloon system.

Learn more about the history of the hot air balloon.