The Macy's Day Parade is renown for its balloons. Every Thanksgiving, people have watched as huge cartoon characters, famous people and logos tumble down the streets of New York. It is one of the most-watched parades in the U.S.

Macy's store employees wanted to celebrate their new American heritage in the 1920's, many being first generation immigrants. They chose the American holiday Thanksgiving to do this. In 1924, the employees marched to Macy's dressed in costumes - floats and live bands in tow. Originally, the employees of Macy's used live animals borrowed from Central Park Zoo for the parade. But as it grew, the employees had to get more creative in order to draw in a bigger audience.

Huge balloons shaped like animals replaced the live ones in 1927. Felix the Cat soared through the streets as the first oversized balloon in the parade. Felix was filled with air, but by the next year, Helium was used to fill the growing number of balloons. One tradition past is the releasing of the Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. They would float for days until one lucky person could catch it and claim a prize on its return to Macy's.

How did something so simple turn into the creative focal point of parades and many other celebrations?

It started as many inventions occur - by accident. Professor Michael Faraday of the Royal Institution in London was the first person to introduce hydrogen into rubber in 1824. The rubber balloons most similar to what exist today began with his experiment with gases and raw rubber. These "balloons" were called caoutchoucs. Faraday noted the "ascending power" of the balloon filled with hydrogen in his writings.

Balloons changed from a scientiffic experiment to a novelty in the next year when English rubber manufacturer Thomas Hancock marketed them to the public. Consumers received a bottle of rubber solution and a syringe to force air into it. They made their own rubber balloons.

By 1889 balloons were being bought by people in the U.S. Montgomery Ward sold them in its catalogue, describing them as "red rubber balloons with trumpet ends." They cost 4 cents a piece. Eventually hydrogen was replaced with helium due to the fire hazard the balloons posed.

Because of the increased safety of balloons, it became possible to be used in new ways. Helen Warny became a leader in advertising with balloons. In the 1920's, she founded The Toy Balloon Company in New York. She used balloons in window displays, decorations, and on balloon-decked floats. She once released 50,000 balloons at once, each with the advertisers name.

Balloons were also used for other practical reasons. They assisted early aviation by probing air currents over the earth. This delivered information that later was used to calculate the altitude at which pilots could fly.

Whether balloons are used for scientiffic use or bringing smiles to parade-goers faces, balloons help bring out people's creativity and have inspired imaginative uses. What new uses can you think of?