Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Jean-Pierre Blanchard (aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard), (7 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, most remembered a pioneer in aviation and ballooning.
Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in 1784 and flew with Dr. John Jeffries in the first flight over the English Channel in 1785.
In 1793, Blanchard conducted the first balloon flight in North America, ascending from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and landing in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey. One of the flight's witnesses that day was President George Washington. Blanchard also holds the record of first balloon flights in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.
In 1809 he fell from his balloon and was killed at the Hague.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)