21 November: The first free balloon flight, and a bowl of Aigo Boulido
On 21 November 1783 Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes lifted off from the Château de la Muette in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon and drifted over Paris for 25 minutes, the first people ever to fly free. They rose on nothing but heat, so we toast them with a soup made from little more than that: aigo boulido, Provence's garlic soup, whose name means 'boiled water'.
Aigo Boulido
France6.1
Aigo boulido, boiled water in the Provençal language, is a simple garlic soup from Provence in southern France. A whole head of garlic, crushed or sliced, is simmered in salted water with fresh sage leaves, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme for about fifteen minutes.
Read about Aigo Boulido and get the recipe →What happened
Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes make the first untethered crewed flight, in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon over Paris.
Sources
- Guinness World Records: First untethered crewed balloon flight
- The Museum of Flight: The Montgolfier brothers' balloon
- Paris Musées: Journal du 21 novembre 1783
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