What type of race was first held internationally in 1906?

The history of aeronautics started more than 2 hundred years ago. In 1793 Montgolfier brothers from France managed to launch the first balloon filled in with hot air. The first international balloon race was held 113 years later, in 1906 on the 30th of September, in the mother-country of aeronautics. The sponsor of the event was Jameson Gordon Bennet, an American millionaire, sportsman and the owner of New York Herald.

The goal of the contest was stated very simply: to fly the furthest distance from the starting point. 16 balloons took part in the race and about 250 thousand people came to watch the contest. The first sportsman to get Bennet's Cup was Frank Lahm from the USA.

By the way, in 1906 there was also the first Grand Prix motor racing, but it wasn't the first car race to be held internationally. The first international motor racing was also connected with Bennet. He established the Gordon Bennet Cup in 1900 and a year later the first international contest took place in France.