Jean-Pierre Blanchard

Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753 — 1809), also known as Francois Blanchard, full name Jean-Pierre Francois Blanchard, was a celebrated French balloonist, aëronaut, and inventor of the parachute. He, together which American John Jeffries (1744 — 1819), became the first to cross the English Channel by air in a balloon on January 7, 1785. He fell from his balloon and was killed at the Hague.