Vicenzo Lunardi (1759-1806), Italian aeronaut. Lunardi became the first person to fly in Britain when he took off in a hot air balloon from London's Royal Artillery Ground at Finsbury on 15 September 1784. His later flights over Edinburgh included one which crashed into the North Sea. In 1794 he was the first person in Britain to fly a balloon filled with hydrogen. Lunardi had come to England as secretary to the Neapolitan Ambassador in London. Artwork from 'Aerostation - Aviation' (1911) by French civil engineer Max de Nansouty (1854-1913), part of the 'Les merveilles de la science' series of 1867-1891 by Louis Figuier.