McCook Field in Dayton in Montgomery County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Montgolfier Brothers

1783

— (Inventing Flight: The Centennial Celebration Series #4) —

Montgolfier Brothers Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 2, 2009

1. Montgolfier Brothers Marker

Inscription.
The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Joseph and Etíenne de Montgolfier, brothers living in France in the 1700s, took the next steps toward reaching the skies. They realized they could create lift from the heat of combustion. The brothers constructed a 309-foot diameter balloon made of linen and paper and launched it with heat from a fire on the ground. The balloon rose over 6,000 feet.

King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were on hand for the second experiment. To see whether the skies could sustain life, the Montgolfiers sent a duck, a sheep, and a rooster successfully skyward. The next step was inevitable. Though the King refused to attend, two men climbed aboard the Montgolfier balloon. They rose to 3,300 feet and floated silently above Paris for nearly half an hour.

Though it would be 120 years before another pair of brothers would achieve heavier-than-air flight, people had finally propelled themselves into the skies. Neither they nor their dreams would ever leave.

Erected 2003

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

by Inventing Flight and Dayton Power & Light Company Foundation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Animals • Exploration • Science & Medicine.

Location. 39° 46.086′ N, 84° 11.182′ W. Marker is in Dayton, Ohio, in Montgomery County. It is in McCook Field. It can be reached from Webster Street. Marker is in Centennial Park, within Deeds Point MetroPark, off Webster Street, about 450 feet NE of the confluence of the Mad and Great Miami Rivers. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 510 Webster St, Dayton OH 45402, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Miami Valley.

It is also in the American Midwest

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance

Centennial Park Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 2, 2009

2. Centennial Park Markers

Four markers, from left (beyond hanging basket & bench, nearest to farthest) are Chinese Kites, Leonardo da Vinci, Montgolfier Brothers, & Sir George Cayley. Looking SW, with downtown Dayton in background and Wright Brothers statues at far right distance.

of this marker: Leonardo da Vinci (here, next to this marker); Sir George Cayley (here, next to this marker); Chinese Kites (a few steps from this marker); The Solution: Wing Warping (within shouting distance of this marker); J. Bradford Tillson (within shouting distance of this marker); Huffman Prairie (within shouting distance of this marker); McCook Field (within shouting distance of this marker); Icarus (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dayton.

Also see . . . Montgolfier Brothers. (Submitted on April 7, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 4, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,168 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 23, 2022, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.