In 18th-century France, French chemist and aviation pioneer Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by taking a mouthful of the gas and blowing it across an open flame. The experiment instantly demonstrated that hydrogen is explosively combustible, but it also singed his face and burned off his eyebrows. Rozier later joked that the test proved "eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one's face."
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