who invented the ancient chinese hot air balloon
History of ballooning Unmanned hot air balloons are popular in Chinese history. Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han kingdom, in the Three Kingdoms era (c. AD 220-280) used airborne lanterns for military signaling. These lanterns are known as Kongming lanterns (孔明灯).[1][2]
Barometer Although Evangelista Torricelli is universally credited with inventing the barometer in 1643,[1][2][3] historical documentation also suggests Gasparo Berti, an Italian mathematician and astronomer, unintentionally built a water barometer sometime between 1640 and 1643.[1][4] French scientist and philosopher René Descartes described the design of an experiment to determine atmospheric pressure as early as 1631, but there is no evidence that he built a working barometer at that time.[1]