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
Hot air ballooning Great Race" (1965 Comedy), the opening sequence features a hot air balloon competition between The Great Leslie and Professor Fate. "Five Weeks in a Balloon", published in 1863, was Jules Verne first acclaimed novel which made him famous and propelled his career as a novelist. The heroes travel across Africa from Zanzibar to Saint-Louis in a gas balloon, not a hot air balloon. In "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1962) by Ray Bradbury, a hot air balloon with the Dust Witch is sent to find out and mark the location of the boys' homes. In Phillip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark