Beginning of the international balloon race, Forest Park, October 21,1907. 

The competitors included three German, two French, one English and three American balloons. The first balloon to come down was an American balloon piloted by Major Hersey, which landed near Lake Ontario on the evening October 22. The next to come down was the single English balloon, which had to descend due to the sickness of the pilots assistant. On the morning of the 23rd, a German balloon Pommern came down first near New Jersey, followed by a French, L'Isle de France, then another German on the banks of the Delaware Bay. Four more contestants dropped before the Chesapeake bay.The winner was judged to be the German balloon, the Pommern, which came down near Asbury Park in New Jersey, as it had traveled the longest distance, 876 miles.The second place winner, the French balloon, L'Isle de France, may not have come first but did set the world record for longest time in the air, with 44 hours and 2 minutes, beating out the previous 35 hours and 40 minutes.

Forest Park still hosts a yearly balloon race, The Great Forest Park Balloon Race, to this day!