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# Talk in Lichfield to highlight one of the early pioneers of flight
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/talk-in-lichfield-to-highlight-one-of-the-early-pioneers-of-flight/
- Published: 2016-10-27T08:06:13.000Z
- Updated: 2016-10-27T08:06:13.000Z
- Description: The spotlight will be on one of the early pioneers at an event in Lichfield this weekend.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Heritage, What's On, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:27, News

The spotlight will be on one of the early pioneers at an event in Lichfield this weekend.

Mark J Davies, biographer of James Sadler – known as The King of Balloons – will discuss the first English aeronaut at the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum on Saturday (October 29).

A spokesperson said: “Samuel Johnson and Erasmus Darwin were both fascinated by the new invention of the air balloon in the 1780s, and Johnson’s close friend, the statesman William Windham, was a key ally of James Sadler in enabling him to overcome the constraints of his upbringing as a pastry cook to become the first Englishman to build and fly a hot-air balloon in Oxford in 1784.”

Admission is free but places must be pre-booked. For more details visit [the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum website](“http://www.samueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk/events.asp”).