.jpg)
The Leicester balloon riot took place at Leicester's Victoria Park on 11 July 1864. It occurred at a test flight of a new hydrogen balloon by aeronaut Henry Tracey Coxwell, for which 50,000 spectators attended. The crowd were enraged by rumours that the balloon was not the largest and newest of Coxwell's balloons and because a woman was allegedly struck by a police officer. Coxwell's balloon was damaged, upon which he caused the gas envelope to collapse, and he then fled, under attack from the crowd. The balloon was subsequently torn to pieces and its basket burnt. The event caused considerable expense to Coxwell, who had to build a replacement balloon, and it set back progress in scientific high-altitude flights.