Paris in the 18th century Paris from across Europe and from the United States to share ideas; Benjamin Franklin came in 1766 to meet with Voltaire and to talk about his experiments with electricity. The 18th century in Paris was a particularly inventive period. Some of the discoveries of Paris scientists, particularly in the field of chemistry, were quickly put to practical use; the experiments of Lavoisier were used to create the first modern chemical plants in Paris, and the production of hydrogen gas enabled the Montgolfier Brothers to launch the first manned flight in a hot-air balloon on 21 November 1783, from the Château
Hot air ballooning the Bull often rides in a hot air balloon. On "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World", disaster strikes and their hot air balloon crashes in the uncharted Amazon jungle. In the 1984 miniseries "V: The Final Battle", humans defeat the alien visitors by dropping red dust from hot air balloons. In "The Simpsons", episode 328, "Co-Dependent's Day" from season 15, originally aired on Sunday, March 21, 2004, at the end, when Marge asks Homer who is watching the kids, the scene cuts to Bart and Lisa in the basket of a hot air balloon. In "The Simpsons", episode 336,