• President Lincoln and Thaddeus Lowe
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    In June 1861, on what now is the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Lowe demonstrated to President Lincoln how a gas-filled balloon might be used to spy on the enemy—thus helping the Union Army and establishing the earliest “air force.” Here re-enactors portraying President Lincoln and Thaddeus Lowe are introduced and shake hands with one another.
  • President Lincoln and Thaddeus Lowe

Photographer:

Mark Avino

ID#:

WEB11926-2011

Owner:

Smithsonian Institution

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