First letter carried William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 1-7-20

The first letter carried by an air vehicle sort of involved Ben Franklin. It was a letter from his son — William the Loyalist — to his grandson William Temple Franklin delivered by hot air ballon over the English Channel on Jan. 7, 1785.

Loyalist William was in England as you would expect. Temple was in Paris assisting Ben in a diplomatic role. T

The first “air mail” in the United States occurred eight years and two days later — Jan. 9, 1793 — when Jean-Pierre Blanchard ballooned from Philadelphia with a personal letter from George Washington to the owner of whatever property he happened to land on which ended up being in Deptford, N. J.

First letter carried William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 1-7-20
First letter carried William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 1-7-20

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