Hot Air Balloon Month
June 5
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. The first un-tethered manned hot air balloon flight was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes on November 21, 1783, in Paris, France. In 25 minutes the two men traveled just over 5 miles. Modern hot air balloons, with an onboard heat source, were developed by Ed Yost, beginning during the 1950s.
National Moonshine Day
June 5
In America, when alcohol taxes shot up due to the Civil War, people started making alcohol themselves illegally. At this time, making any alcohol had to be done in the dark of night so they would not get caught, hence the name “moonshine.” Moonshine is often depicted in TV shows with a jug marked XXX because back in the day, that’s how moonshiners used to label their products. Before modern distilling techniques were created, moonshiners had to run the alcohol through the still three times to get that strong, good tasting stuff. Consumers knew that when they saw the XXX, it was good.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Mark Wahlberg – Actor –48 – born in Dorchester, Maine
Pancho Villa – Mexican General – passed at age 45 – born in State of Durango, Mexico
