Drones

The Montgolfier brothers in France, were the first to experiment with balloons in 1782. In preparation for their manned flights they sent unmanned aerostats aloft.

"The first recorded use of an aerial device from aboard a ship occurred in 1806, almost 100 years before the Wright Brother's first powered flight at Kitty Hawk in December 1903. On that occasion, the Royal Navy's Lord Thomas Cochrane flew kites from the 32-gun frigate HMS Pallas to spread propaganda leaflets over the French coast."

"On August 22, 1849, the Austrians, who controlled much of Italy at this time, launched some 200 pilotless balloons against the city of Venice."

U.S. Civil War

"balloons were flown in the U.S. Civil War in 1862, with both Confederate and Union forces using them for reconnaissance and bombing sorties."

"1898, during the Spanish-American War, and we find the U.S. military fitting a camera to a kite, producing the first ever aerial reconnaissance photos."

"1934, Reginald Denny (screen actor and modeller) produced a nine-foot R/C model which he tried to sell to the Army for target practice for AA gunners."

"In early 1935, Commander Aircraft, Battle Force, requested the Chief of Naval Operations to provide high-speed, radio-controlled, armored aircraft targets for bombing practices."

"1945:: A Japanese balloon bomb kills six people in rural eastern Oregon. They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the 48 states."

"In the 1970s and 1980s, with significant DARPA impetus and some DARPA funding, a variety of new technologies emerged, including the Global Positioning System, long-range data links, lightweight computer equipment and composite materials, as well as satellite communications and digital flight controls. The Albatross and the Amber were the harbingers of the modern era of U.A.V.s."

"The armed Predator program was activated days after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, with Predators reaching Afghanistan by September 16th 2001"