Early Drone Technology History. First, for those who donāt know, itās important to establish that the word ādroneā simply refers to any aerial vehicle that is unmanned.
That is, the pilot does not sit or stand within the vehicle itself.
By this definition, the earliest unmanned aerial vehicle in the history of drones was seen in 1839, when Austrian soldiers attacked the city of Venice with unmanned balloonsĀ filled with explosives.
Some of these Austrian Balloons were successful, but a number of them blew back and bombed the Austriansā own lines, so the practice did not become widely adopted.
The invention of winged aircraft changed everything for manned and unmanned vehicles alike.