Joseph (1740-1810) and Jacques Etienne (1745-1799) Montgolfier were two French bothers who invented the first successful hot-air balloon. They launched their first balloon in December, 1782. Almost a year later, the first trip was possible. Joseph and Jacques Etienne made a paper balloon, they burnt wet straw and filled it with hot air. It began to rise because hot air is lighter than the rest of the air. The first passengers in a hot-air balloon were a rooster, a sheep, and a duck, whom the Montgolfier brothers sent up to an altitude of 1,640 ft (500 m) on September 19, 1783. The trip lasted for 8 minutes. The animals survived the landing. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France watched this event.