title_body: The earliest recorded use of a UAV for military use was in July 1849, but if we include non-military UAVs, was there anything earlier? The history of drones Wikipedia article starts with the Austrian incendiary balloons of July 1849 as the first recorded use of UAVs for the military. 
  
  Was this the earliest record of any UAV, whether for military use or not?
upvoted_answer: I have recently written a dissertation on non-military drones and the first mention that I could find for what we would consider modern drones used in a context other than direct military action was when, in 1994, they were used as overhead surveillance for NATO envoys in Bosnia.
  
  In terms of any UAV, not necessarily guided aircraft, the incendiary balloons are the earliest example I can think of, however, carrier pigeons were used as early as 1150 according to Wikipedia, so this may qualify.