Vicenzo Lunardi. Engraving of Vicenzo Lunardi (1759-1806), Italian aviation pioneer, in the basket of one of his balloons. Lunardi became the first person to fly in Britain when he took off in a hot air balloon from London's Honourable Artillery Ground on 15 September 1784. Around 80,000 people are reported to have witnessed his later flights over Edinburgh, including one which crashed into the North Sea, from which Lunardi had to be rescued. In 1794 he was also the first person in Britain to fly a balloon filled with hydrogen.