Friday, January 9 at 12:00 PM
Did you know that The Athenaeum of Philadelphia is located on the site of the launch of the first successful, manned balloon flight in the U.S.?
On January 9, 1793, French inventor and aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard ascended in a hydrogen-filled balloon from what was then the work yard of the Walnut Street Prison. President George Washington joined the crowd watching Blanchard take to the sky. Reaching an altitude of over 5800 feet, the flight lasted 46 minutes with air currents taking the balloon across the Delaware River to Woodbury, NJ, where Blanchard set it down safely by gradually letting air out of the balloon and throwing ballast overboard.
Join us for a virtual noon lecture on Blanchard, who made history right here and lifted imaginations of flight sky-high!
You may know Eric Simonis from The Athenaeum's series Le Cercle Francophone d'Histoire in which he lectures in slow French about a variety of themes that define French culture, human and intellectual achievements. Now, Eric joins us for this special lecture in English!
This is a free event.
