To mark the 159th anniversary of the first aerial photo in the United States, CBS Sunday Morning aired this 2-minute Almanac segment about the landmark photo by photographer James Wallace Black and how aerial photography has developed since then.
According to the Professional Aerial Photographers Association, the father of aerial photography was French balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, who photographed Paris from a hot air balloon way back in 1858. Unfortunately, none of his work remains today, and so the title of oldest surviving aerial photograph goes to the picture you see above.
Titled "Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It" the photo was taken by photographer James Wallace Black in October of 1860 from an altitude of about 2,000 feet.