John Jeffries a letter he dropped from the balloon during his historic flight, considered the oldest piece of airmail in existence. He fled to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1776 and later to England 1779, and was employed by the Crown during this time. In 1785, Jeffries and Jean-Pierre Blanchard crossed the English Channel in a balloon, becoming the first human beings to cross the Channel by air. Jeffries lived in England from 1779 to 1790. Despite being named in the Massachusetts Banishment Act, he returned to private practice in Boston, staying there until his death in 1819. His son John Jeffries II
Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic Alabama Legislature to designate the City of Decatur as the “Ballooning Capital of Alabama.” The Jubilee has been named a Top 20 Tourism Event in the Southeast for May by the Atlanta-based Southeast Tourism Society. The Alabama Jubilee is held on the grounds of Point Mallard Park, a municipal recreation complex that offers a water park featuring an aquatic center with a wave pool, Olympic-sized swimming pools, lazy river, and several water slides, as well as tennis courts, ball fields, hiking trails, campground, 18-hole championship golf course, indoor ice skating rink and recreation center. Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic