Writing a question about Louis Bleriot last week, I had to be careful that I worded the question properly to mention a heavier-than-air aircraft crossing the English Channel, as Bleriot did in 1909.

Of course, people had been crossing the Channel in aircraft 130 years before that, it’s just that they were doing it using balloons.

The first guy to do it was Jean-Pierre Blanchard, in 1785.

And it was while reading his Wikipedia page that I found today’s Wikipedia Quote of The Day:

He fell from his balloon and died roughly a year later (March 7, 1809) from his severe injuries.

His widow continued to support herself with ballooning demonstrations until it also killed her.

Nice.