Vincenzo Lunardi was a pioneering Italian aeronaut, born in Lucca.
12 Facts About Vincenzo Lunardi
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Vincenzo Lunardi's family were of minor Tuscan nobility from Lucca, and his father had married late in life.
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Vincenzo Lunardi travelled in France in his early years before being called home, where he was put into the diplomatic service.
4.
Vincenzo Lunardi came to England as Secretary to Prince Caramanico, the Neapolitan Ambassador.
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The flight from the Artillery Ground travelled in a northerly direction towards Hertfordshire, with Vincenzo Lunardi touching down briefly in a cornfield in the parish of North Mymms to release the cat which had become unwell.
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Vincenzo Lunardi's balloon was later exhibited at the Pantheon in Oxford Street.
7.
Vincenzo Lunardi published An Account of the First Aerial Voyage in England, written as a series of letters to his guardian, Gherardo Campagni.
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Vincenzo Lunardi made the first successful hydrogen balloon flight from Scotland to England.
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Seventy minutes after the ascent from the grounds of Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh, Vincenzo Lunardi was forced down in the sea.
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Vincenzo Lunardi spent a long time in the North Sea until rescued by a passing fishing boat that docked at North Berwick.
11.
The critical responses following this death made Vincenzo Lunardi leave Great Britain.
12.
Vincenzo Lunardi continued to make ascents in Italy, Spain and Portugal.