The path of human aviation is uneven and dangerous. But, from the ancient story of an English king killed in his attempt to fly with handmade wings to the launchings of rockets to the International Space Station, the desire for flight continues. Some people think of the American brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright as the first pilots of the sky. In 1903, the two men made four brief flights in a powered plane in North Carolina. But more than 100 years earlier, two Frenchmen were actually the first to float through the sky. On November 21, 1783, Jean Franois Piltre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes got into a small open airboat. Above their heads, long ropes attached the craft to a huge hot air balloon. The balloon rose slowly, carrying its pilots over a public park in Paris. In 1785, two other pilots flew a similar airship across the English Channel. Although it never became a main form of transportation, balloon flight has stuck. Today, hot air balloon fans celebrate the aircraft in festivals around the world.