Jean-Pierre rançoisBlanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer of gas

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or lig ...

flight, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the air in a balloon, in particular the first crossing of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

, on 7 January 1785.

Biography

1784 - Flights in Paris

Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

on 2 March 1784, in a hydrogen gas balloon launched from the Champ de Mars. The first successful manned balloon flight had taken place on 21 November 1783, when Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes took off at Palace of Versailles in a free-flying hot air balloon constructed by the Montgolfier brothers. The first manned hydrogen balloon flight had taken place on 1 December 1783, when Professor Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert launched '' La Charlière'' from the

Jardin des Tuileries The Tuileries Garden (french: Jardin des Tuileries, ) is a public garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Created by Catherine de' Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace ...

in Paris. Blanchard's flight nearly ended in disaster, when one spectator (Dupont de Chambon, a contemporary of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

at the École militaire de Brienne) slashed at the balloon's mooring ropes and oars with his sword after being refused a place on board. Blanchard intended to "row" northeast to La Villette but the balloon was pushed by the wind across the Seine to Billancourt and back again, landing in the rue de Sèvres. Blanchard adopted the Latin tag '' Sic itur ad astra'' as his

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

. The early balloon flights triggered a phase of public " balloonomania", with all manner of objects decorated with images of balloons or styled ''au ballon'', from ceramics to fans and hats. Clothing ''au ballon'' was produced with exaggerated puffed sleeves and rounded skirts, or with printed images of balloons. Hair was coiffed ''à la montgolfier'', ''au globe volant'', ''au demi-ballon'', or ''à la Blanchard''.

1784 - Flights in London

Blanchard moved to London in August 1784, where he took part in a flight on 16 October 1784 with John Sheldon, just a few weeks after the first flight in Britain (and the first outside France), when Italian Vincenzo Lunardi flew from Moorfields to Ware on 15 September 1784. Blanchard's propulsion mechanisms – flapping wings and a windmill – again proved ineffective, but the balloon flew some 115 km from Lewis Lochée’s military academy in

Little Chelsea Little Chelsea was a hamlet, located on either side of Fulham Road, half a mile Southwest of Chelsea, London. The earliest references to the settlement date from the early 17th century, and the name continued to be used until the hamlet was surrou ...

, landing in Sunbury and then taking off again to end in Romsey. Blanchard took a second flight on 30 November 1784, taking off with an American, Dr

John Jeffries John Jeffries (5 February 1744 – 16 September 1819) was an American physician, scientist, and military surgeon with the British Army in Nova Scotia and New York during the American Revolution. He is best known for accompanying French invent ...

, from the Rhedarium behind Green Street Mayfair, London to Ingress in Kent.

1785 - First flight over the English Channel

A third flight, again with Jeffries, was the first flight over the

, taking about 2½ hours to travel from England to France on 7 January 1785,Blanchard, Jean-Pierre-François
'' Encyclopædia Britannica'' Online. Retrieved 2009-10-17. flying from

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is th ...

to Guînes. Blanchard was awarded a substantial pension by Louis XVI. The King ordered the balloon and boat be hung up in the church of

Église Notre-Dame de Calais Église Notre-Dame ("The Church of Our Lady") is a Roman Catholic parish church located on Rue de la Paix, in Calais, department of Pas-de-Calais, in northern France. It dates from the 12th century, and chiefly from the 14th century. Arguabl ...

. (A subsequent Channel crossing attempt in the opposite direction by Pilâtre de Rozier on 15 June 1785 ended unsuccessfully in a fatal crash.)

Flights in Europe

Blanchard toured Europe, demonstrating his balloons. He holds the record of first balloon flights in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland. Among the events that included demonstrations of his abilities as a balloonist was the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in September 1791. Following the invention of the modern parachute in 1783 by Sébastien Lenormand in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in 1785 Jean-Pierre Blanchard demonstrated it as a means of jumping safely from a balloon. While Blanchard's first parachute demonstrations were conducted with a dog as the passenger, he later had the opportunity to try it himself when in 1793 his hydrogen balloon ruptured and he used a parachute to escape. Subsequent development of the parachute focused on making it more compact. While the early parachutes were made of linen stretched over a wooden frame, in the late 1790s, Blanchard began making parachutes from folded silk, taking advantage of silk's strength and light weight.

1793 - Flights in America

On 9 January 1793, Blanchard conducted the first balloon flight in the Americas. He launched his balloon from the prison yard of

Walnut Street Jail Walnut Street Prison was a city jail and penitentiary house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1790 to 1838. Legislation calling for establishment of the jail was passed in 1773 to relieve overcrowding in the High Street Jail; the first prison ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and landed at the Clement Oak in Deptford, Gloucester County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. One of the flight's witnesses that day was President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, and the future presidents John Adams,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, James Madison, and James Monroe were also present. Blanchard left the United States in 1797.

Personal life and death

He married Marie Madeleine-Sophie Armant (better known as Sophie Blanchard) in 1804. On 20 February 1808 Blanchard had a heart attack while in his balloon at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. He fell from the balloon and died roughly a year later on 7 March 1809 due to severe injuries. His widow continued to support herself with ballooning demonstrations until doing so also killed her.Her death is described in detail, with multiple citations, in the Wikipedia article about her.

Pictures

File:Airship designed by 6395w824r 0 0c483k63k.tiff , Airship designed by Jean-Pierre Blanchard, 1784 Image:Early flight 02562u (7).jpg, Crossing of the

by Blanchard and Jeffries on 7 January 1785. Image:BlanchardChannelFlight.jpg, Crossing of the

by Blanchard in 1785. File:Goal in Walnut Street Philadelphia Birch's views plate 24 (cropped).jpg,

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Blanchard launched his 9 January 1793 American flight from the prison yard. File:La 14e expérience aérostatique de Monsieur Blanchard accompagné du Chevalier Lépinard, Lille, 26 août 1785.jpg, La 14e expérience aérostatique de Monsieur Blanchard accompagné du Chevalier Lépinard, Lille, 26 août 1785, painting by

Louis Joseph Watteau Louis Joseph Watteau (10 April 1731 - 17 August 1798), known as the Watteau of Lille (a title also given to his son) was a French painter active in Lille. Watteau was born in Valenciennes. His father Noël Joseph Watteau (1689-1756) was brother t ...

File:Blanchard Crossing English Channel.jpg, Blanchard and Jeffries Crossing the English Channel in 1785

Notes

References

External links

*
Journal of Jean-Pierre Blanchard's forty-fifth ascension, being the first performed in America, on January 9, 1793 (1918)

Further information with images about Blanchard's life and flight across the Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Jean-Pierre 1753 births 1809 deaths People from Les Andelys French balloonists Aviation pioneers 18th-century French inventors Balloon flight record holders French aviation record holders Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in the Netherlands

Biography

1784 - Flights in Paris

1784 - Flights in London

1785 - First flight over the English Channel

Flights in Europe

1793 - Flights in America

Personal life and death

Pictures

See also

Notes

References

References

External links