Louis XVI witnessed the Montgolfier brothers’ animal-carrying balloon flight in 1783.
The demonstration took place at Versailles on 19 September 1783, before King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. The balloon carried a sheep, a duck, and a rooster in a basket suspended beneath it.
The animals were chosen because they represented different types of breathing and were considered suitable test passengers. The flight lasted approximately eight minutes and reached about 460 metres, after which the animals landed safely.
This was not the first human balloon flight. It was an important preliminary test conducted before the Montgolfiers’ free human ascent near Paris in November. Louis XVI is also sometimes confused with Louis XVIII, who did not reign during this 1783 demonstration.