Jean-Pierre Blanchard

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Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Ballooning
Spouse(s)Victoire Lebrun {abandoned}
Marie Madeleine-Sophie Armant

Jean-Pierre [François] Blanchard (French pronunciation:

balloon flight, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the air in a balloon, Notable for his successful hydrogen balloon flight in Paris on 2 March 1784, Blanchard later moved to London and undertook flights with varying propulsion mechanisms. His historic achievement came on 7 January 1785, crossing the English Channel from Dover Castle to Guînes in about 2½ hours, receiving acclaim from Louis XVI
and earning a substantial pension.

Touring Europe, Blanchard demonstrated his balloons and showcased the modern parachute, which he later used for a successful escape in 1793 when his hydrogen balloon ruptured. In 1793, he conducted the first balloon flight in the Americas, witnessed by President George Washington. Married to Sophie Blanchard in 1804, Blanchard suffered a fatal heart attack in his balloon in 1808, with his widow continuing balloon demonstrations until her accidental death.

Biography

1784 – Flights in Paris

Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in

Sic itur ad astra as his motto.[citation needed
]

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.[1]

1784 – Flights in London

Blanchard moved to London in August 1784, where he took part in a flight on 16 October 1784 with

Ingress in Kent
.

1785 – First flight over the English Channel

Blanchard's Column at Guînes
A column was erected at Guînes to commemorate his crossing of the English Channel by hydrogen balloon on 7 January 1785. (Location:50°50′31″N 1°52′02″E / 50.841997365°N 1.867341242°E / 50.841997365; 1.867341242 (Jean-Pierre Blanchard))
Under the reign of Louis XVI
MDCCLXXXV
Jean-Pierre Blanchard of Les Andelys in Normandy
accompanied by Jean Jefferies English (sic)
Leaving from Dover Castle
in an Aerostat.
January 7th at a quarter past one,
was the first to cross the air
above Pas-de-Calais
and descended after three and a quarter hours
in the very place where the inhabitants of Guines
raised this column
to the glory of the two travellers.

These aeronauts were received on their descent by
P. Eliz Casin d'Honnincthun and Louis Marie Dufosse.
and taken to the castle of M.Le Vicomte Desandrouin
Chamberlain of the Emperor who laid the stone of this
column on May 25, 1785.[Note 1]

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

Pilâtre de Rozier on 15 June 1785 ended unsuccessfully in a fatal crash.)[7]

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

King of Bohemia in Prague in September 1791.[citation needed
]

Following the invention of the modern

Sébastien Lenormand in France
, 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.

Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and landed in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey. One of the flight's witnesses that day was President George Washington, and the future presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were also present. Blanchard left the United States in 1797.[citation needed
]

Personal life and death

He married Marie Madeleine-Sophie Armant (better known as

heart attack while in his balloon at The Hague. 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.[9]

Pictures

  • Airship designed by Jean-Pierre Blanchard, 1784
    Airship designed by Jean-Pierre Blanchard, 1784
  • Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard and Jeffries on 7 January 1785.
    Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard and Jeffries on 7 January 1785.
  • Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard in 1785.
    Crossing of the English Channel by Blanchard in 1785.
  • Walnut Street Jail, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Blanchard launched his 9 January 1793 American flight from the prison yard.
    Walnut Street Jail
    , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Blanchard launched his 9 January 1793 American flight from the prison yard.
  • La 14e expérience aérostatique de Monsieur Blanchard accompagné du Chevalier Lépinard, Lille, 26 août 1785, painting by Louis Joseph Watteau
    La 14e expérience aérostatique de Monsieur Blanchard accompagné du Chevalier Lépinard, Lille, 26 août 1785, painting by Louis Joseph Watteau
  • Blanchard and Jeffries Crossing the English Channel in 1785
    Blanchard and Jeffries Crossing the English Channel in 1785

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Original text of Blanchard's Column at Guînes: Sous le régné de Louis XVI MDCCLXXXV, Jean-Pierre Blanchard des Andelys en Normand, Accompagne de Jean Jefferies Anglais, Partit du chateau de Douvre dans un Aérostat, Le VII Janvier a une heure un quart, traversa le prémier les airs au dessus de Pas-de-Calais, et descendit de trois heures trois quarts dans le lieux même ou les habitants de Guînes. Ont élevé cette colonne À la gloire des deux voyageurs.
    Ces aeronauts en été recus à leur descent par P. Eliz Casin d'Honnincthun et Louis Marie Dufossé, Et conduits au château de M.Le Vicomté Desandrouin, Chambellan de L'Empereur qui a posé la pierre de cette colonne le 25 Mai 1785.

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2007-07-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "The Rhedarium had been built as military stables in 1738 and then sold, in 1784, to be used as a coach manufact by a Mr. Murdoch MacKenzie." (Blog: The Early London Gas Industry: The Rhedarium); see The Survey of London,, vol 40: The Green Street Area, Introduction, and ibid "Wood's Mews".
  3. ^ Blanchard, Jean-Pierre-François. (subscription required) Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  4. ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1965). The Oxford History of the American People. New York: Oxford. p. 286.
  5. The History Channel
    . Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Canterbury. Extract of an authentic Letter from Dover. Jan. 20, 1785". Kentish Gazette. England. 22 January 1785. Retrieved 13 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Holmes 2008, pp. 148−155.
  8. ^ Beischer, DE; Fregly, AR (1962). "Animals and man in space. A chronology and annotated bibliography through the year 1960". US Naval School of Aviation Medicine. ONR TR ACR-64 (AD0272581). Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved 2011-06-14.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ Her death is described in detail, with multiple citations, in the Wikipedia article about her.
  • Holmes, Richard (2008). The age of wonder. New York: Vintage Books.
    ISBN 978-1-4000-3187-0
    .

External links

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