Fun Fact Friday - Mile High Club

I keep forgetting it's Friday today, dear reader, which means I am also forgetting you, which I could feel bad about but have chosen not to. I know, I'm a bitch. There's really no helping it.

Fun fact: The first hot air balloonists were a duck, a sheep, and a rooster.

The year: 1783. The Montgolfier brothers had been experimenting with balloons. They had successfully launched another unmanned balloon a few months earlier, but now... now on this fine September day it was time to take a fresh, bold step toward the future of flight.

So they chucked some animals in a basket and said, "Hey, good luck, chums! We'll maybe see you in a few minutes." The flight lasted eight minutes and apparently landed safely, but I have found absolutely zero sources that assess the mental well-being of the animals.

I have also found no sources that explained why they wanted two birds and a sheep. You'd think if Laika the Space Dog can handle going into orbit by herself (and then dying by herself, alone in space) then the sheep could handle eight minutes of confused basket floating without her trusty companions, duck and cock.

Please note: This is not Laika. This dog is alive in space. And not biting my throat and killing me in my sleep. So we're all safe. It's fine. It's fine!

By which I mean to say, perhaps the balloon launchers were hungry for a dinner of sheep, rooster, and duck and just thought it might be nice if they all died together. In a balloon crash. Or perhaps they thought it would be a romantic getaway for the farmer's polygamous beasts. Or maybe the rooster was a malicious asshole that abducted his barnyard buddies in a twisted revenge plot because he was certain that the sheep had helped the duck seduce the sexiest of the hens when really the hen, the duck, and the sheep were just very close book group pals.

By which I really mean, science sometimes just doesn't answer the questions I want answered. Like was the sheep name Lucille? I just imagine it that way.