From the 18th century, people had been inflating balloons of fabric or canvas with incredibly hot air and sending it aloft, the Montgolfier brothers going so far as to experiment with 1st animals in 1782, after which you can, when altitude did not destroy them, human beings in 1783. Se https://landenqiwly.wonderkingwiki.com/1680458/the_balloon_arch_frame_diaries