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EN
THE FIRST AIR VOYAGE IN AMERICA
January 9, 1793
Woodcut by Charles R Gardner
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The first air voyage in America started from the yard of the old
Walnut Street Prison, at the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut
Streets, Philadelphia-site of the present Home Office of The
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. There on January 9,
1793, Jean Pierre Blanchard, a citizen of France, ascended in a
hydrogen-filled balloon in the presence of President Washington
and a great assembly. The aeronaut carried a letter of intro-
duction from Washington, "the first American air mail." Max-
imum altitude reached was 5,813 feet; distance 15 miles; time
46 minutes.
TWO
