Defying Gravity and Monarchy
HISTORY This Week
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The Great Ballooning Craze
On september nineteenth, crowds pour out of paris to watch this balloon take off at one p m. The flying frenchmen travel five miles and then land safely on a patch of field near two mmills. These balloons kick off a cultural obsession around the world, balloon mania. There are dances, minuets composed in celebration of the balloons, that are danced at court and in public events. People recognize that some fund mental thing has changed here. Human beings have actually learned to fly... And by golly, those forces are going to shape the future. And that's worth celebrating.
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