Background
Jean Pierre Francois was born in 1753.
Jean Pierre Francois was born in 1753.
His early aeronautical efforts on an orthopter (flapping-wing) design were not successful, but with the invention of the balloon in 1783 he rose to fame as one of the greatest aeronauts of his day. His first hydrogen balloon was built in 1784, and he made several ascensions in France in that year, later going to England. He achieved his greatest feat on Jan. 7, 1785, when he crossed the English Channel from Dover by balloon with his patron, Dr. John Jeffries of Boston, landing in the forest near Ardres. Blanchard's forty-fifth ascension, made in Philadelphia on Jan. 9, 1793, was the first aerial voyage made in America. It lasted forty-six minutes, ending in Gloucester Co., New Jersey. George Washington was a spectator. Blanchard made first ascensions in Germany, Holland, and what is now Belgium. His sixtieth and final ascent, in 1808, resulted in injuries which led to his death