On 2nd February 1872, Henri Dupuy de Lôme presented to public his muscle-powered dirigible balloon, able to achieve flight speed of up to 11 kph.
On 29th October 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, the French authorities assigned Dupuy de Lôme the task of developing a navigable balloon that could be practically used for military purposes. At that time, Paris was already surrounded by the enemy and cut off from the rest of the French territory. The navigable balloon seemed to be a solution how to establish connection between the capital and the areas still under the French control.
The French Ministry of Education allocated funding of 40,000 francs for that project, regrettably the balloon was not ready until the armistice signed in January of 1871 and French capitulation that followed shortly after. In addition, establishment of the Paris Commune put all Dupuy de Lôme´s development on hold.
As of mid-1871, Dupuy de Lôme was able to continue with his development and finally, on 2nd February 1872, the navigable aerostat was introduced to public on artillery grounds in Vincennes.
(full story here)
Cover photo: Start of Dupuy de Lôme balloon in Vincennes, 2 Feb 1872 (source: Wikipedia, Public Domain, cropped)
