Blanchard, Jean Pierre

Blanchard, Jean Pierre (1753-1809), French aeronaut, born in Les Andelys. He was also called François Blanchard. In 1784, a few months after the first manned balloon ascent, by the French physicist Jean Pilâtre de Rozier, Blanchard made a successful ascent in his own balloon. In 1785 he and John Jeffries, an American doctor, made the first balloon crossing of the English Channel from Dover to Calais. In the same year Blanchard gave the first successful demonstration of the use of a parachute; a basket containing a dog (or cat) was dropped from a balloon and parachuted to earth. In 1793, on a visit to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Blanchard made the first balloon ascent in the United States.