Hydrogen balloon filling. Historical artwork of a balloon being filled with hydrogen prior to a flight. This is the balloon of the French physicist Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles (1746- 1823) and M. N. Robert. It made a flight from the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris, France, on 1 December 1783. Charles landed the balloon near Nesle after a two hour flight, discharged his companion, and then continued his flight alone for a further 35 minutes. The first manned flights by both hot air and hydrogen balloons had taken place earlier in the same year.