{On this date…First Balloon Flight}

Tickets for Jean-Pierre Blanchard’s balloon flight in 1793 weren’t cheap at $5, but the 39 year-old Frenchman figured the public would pay a pretty price for an eyewitness seat to history. Around 10 am on Jan 9, 1793, Blanchard climbed abroad his green and yellow balloon, which was tied off a courtyard of a Philadelphia prison, and lifted off over the Delaware River. Forty-five minutes later he landed in Deptford, NJ making history.