Jean-Pierre Blanchard

Jean-Pierre Blanchard (aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard), (7 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, most remembered a pioneer in aviation and ballooning. Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in 1784 and flew with Dr. John Jeffries in the first flight over the English Channel in 1785. Later that year, he was the first man to demonstrate the use of a parachute.

In 1793, Blanchard conducted the first balloon flight in North America, ascending from the Washington Prison Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and landing in Deptford, Gloucester County, New Jersey. One of the flight's witnesses that day was President George Washington. Blanchard also holds the record of first balloon flights in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.