In this episode of One Sealed Letter, we take to the skies with Benjamin Franklin as he witnesses the first balloon flights of 1783. From the gardens of Versailles to the Champs de Mars in Paris, Franklin recorded these marvels in letters to his friend Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society.

Franklin’s accounts blend diplomacy, science, and wonder. He details how balloons were constructed, the astonishment of crowds, and even his own anxiety for the first men to rise into the air. Along the way, we uncover what his correspondence teaches us about clarity, curiosity, and the art of writing letters that endure. His famous quip, “What good is a newborn baby?” reminds us that every new invention begins in uncertainty before it reshapes the world.

As Franklin himself mused, “I begin to be almost sorry I was born so soon, since I cannot have the happiness of knowing what will be known a hundred years hence.” In his words we find not only history, but a timeless lesson for our own creative lives.

Primary Sources Read in Full

• ​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, July 27, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Yale University)
• ​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, August 30 – September 2, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin)
• ​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, October 8, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin)
• ​ Benjamin Franklin to Sir Joseph Banks, November 22–25, 1783 (The Papers of Benjamin Franklin)

Additional historical context drawn from:

• ​ The Papers of Benjamin Franklin Digital Edition (Yale University)
• ​ Gillispie, Charles Coulston. The Montgolfier Brothers and the Invention of Aviation, 1783–1784. Princeton University Press, 1983.
• ​ Sciama, Yves. “The Balloonomania of 1783.” Scientific American, November 2003.