World's First "Airmail" flight

The first "airmail" flight happened in August 17 1859, aboard the hot air balloon named as Jupiter. John Wise, the aeronaut, was given 123 letters in Lafayette, Indiana, to deliver to New York City. The balloon had to ascend to 14,000 feet to pick up any wind, but that wind, unfortunately, carried it south. After covering only 30 miles in five hours, Wise descended in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where his trip was labeled a “trans-county-nental” flight. Wise gave the mail to a postal agent, who put it on a train for New York.