Today we feature a photograph of Professor Thadeus Lowe and his lighter than air balloon, the Intrepid. Lowe was a pioneering balloonist, and used his skill in the Civil War. He was appointed by the military to be the Army’s Chief Aeronaut. He would take his balloons to the battlefield, and would ascend in the balloon to perform reconnaissance of enemy positions and activities. Interestingly enough, he was not universally appreciated by the military. Some thought he was being paid too much, and disputes over this led him to resign before the end of the war. In the end, he became a very wealthy man by inventing a way to make ice; the process was related to the process he used to create hydrogen gas for his balloon. 
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