On this day Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French inventor, and John Jeffries, an American doctor, became the first men to cross the English channel in a hot-air balloon. In the wake of the pioneer, Joseph Mongolfier, Blanchard made his first successful manned flight in March 1784. Later that year, in England, he met Jeffries who agreed to finance the Channel crossing in return for a place in the basket. In the morning of the 7th January 1785, they set out from Dover for Calais. They soon realised that their basket, loaded with equipment, was too heavy and they were obliged to dump everything except the package of the first international airmail, delivered successfully on their safe landing in the Felmores Forest, France.
The First Hot-Air Balloon Channel Crossing
7th January 1785