Bris is towed into the air in his Artificial Albatross glider, flying . 1857 Félix Du Temple flies clockwork and steam-powered model aircraft, the first sustained powered flights by heavier-than-air machines. French brothers du Temple de la Croix apply after successful attempts with models for a patent for a power-driven aeroplane. 1858 John Wise and three companions complete a Montgolfière flight over a distance of , (St. Louis - Henderson, USA). French airman Nadar takes the first aerial photographs. 1860s 1860 13 October – Ascending in Samuel Archer Kings balloon The Queen of the Air, James Wallace Black takes eight photographs of Boston, Massachusetts, from an altitude of . The single clear print is the first successful aerial photograph in the United States and the first clear aerial photograph of a city ever taken anywhere. 1861 The first use of observation balloons in naval warfare takes place during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The United States Navy barge George Washington Parke Custis becomes the first ship configured to conduct air operations, transporting and towing observation balloons along the Potomac River. She continues these operations into early 1862. 16 June – Floating above the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the balloon Enterprise with a telegraph key wired directly to the White House, Thaddeus Lowe sends a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln to demonstrate the value of balloons in military reconnaissance. It is the first telegram to be sent from the air. The Union Army Balloon Corps will be formed under Lowes command, for observation and artillery direction, and balloons will see major use in the American Civil War over the next four years. 3 August – The United States Army steamship Fanny becomes the first ship to loft a captive manned balloon when a civilian aeronaut, John La Mountain, ascends from her deck to observe Confederate military positions at Hampton Roads, Virginia. He ascends again a few days later either from Fanny or a ship named Adriatic. 1862 With the permission of the British War Office, British Army Captain F. Beaumont and Lieutenant George Grover perform observation balloon trials at Aldershot, assisted by the civilian aeronaut Henry Tracey Coxwell. It is the first balloon experiment in the British armed forces, although the first official experimentation will not occur until 1878. Late March – Civilian aeronaut John H. Steiner takes United States Navy officers aloft in an observation balloon from the deck