Balloons

We see balloons almost every day whether for birthdays, carnivals, outside stores, or even soaring high in the sky. The first rubber balloon was invented in 1824 for uses in a laboratory by Michael Faraday. However, this is not where balloons got their start. Originally people would fill animal bladders with air to create balloons. Unlike the balloons of today, these balloons were occasionally used by the Aztec as sacrifices to their gods. Moving forward into the history of balloons, with the hot air balloon, invented by the Montgolfier brother around 1783. The first unmanned hot air balloon was released on September 19, 1783. The first test had an animal ride inside the basket to see if it would survive the high altitude. The hot air balloon stayed in the air for ten minutes, then after confirming that the animal had indeed survived the flight they sent the first man into the sky. Now hot air balloons have their very own events and tourist attractions. People also use balloons for decorations. There are sculptors that create art out of balloons. There are some that twist long skinny balloons called “Twister”, but people who create art out of round balloons are called “Shapers”. These people often create balloon art for birthday celebrations, business events, weddings, and baby showers. Balloons are used to tell the weather also. These weather balloons are about six feet long when released into the atmosphere twice a day, but they can grow to as long as twenty feet. They can travel for over 100 miles before finally bursting and providing people with valuable information about the weather, like humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and temperature. Balloons come in all different shapes and sizes and have become a valuable attribute in today’s society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon

https://www.weather.gov/bmx/kidscorner_weatherballoons