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Why is the Trump balloon known as a ‘blimp’?

21 July 2018

9:00 AM

21 July 2018

9:00 AM

Blimpish beginnings

Protesters flew a ‘blimp’ depicting President Trump as a baby in central London. Why are balloons known as ‘blimps’?

— One explanation is that the US military had two kinds of balloon: the Type A (rigid) and the Type B (limp). The use of the term ‘B class’ for balloons was not used till 1917.

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