A closer look

Alcoholic bribery is surprisingly recognized as a fundamental cornerstone of early aeronautics. In the late 18th century, early French balloonists kept desperately landing their terrifying, smoke-belching canvas contraptions in rural fields, completely terrifying the deeply superstitious peasants who thought they were literal demons; eagerly offering them expensive booze quickly became the only reliable way to stop farmers from pitchforking the expensive balloon to death.