Jean Pierre Blanchard
| Jean-Pierre Blanchard | |
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Jean-Pierre Blanchard, engraving after a portrait by Richard Livesay
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| Born | 4 July 1753 Les Andelys, France |
| Died | 7 March 1809 (aged 55) The Hague, Holland |
| Cause of death | Heart Attack |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | inventor |
| Known for | ballooning |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Madeleine-Sophie Armant |
Jean-Pierre [François] Blanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight.
Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in Paris on 2 March 1784, in a hydrogen gas balloon launched from the Champ de Mars. The first successful manned balloon flight had taken place on 21 November 1783, when Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes took off at Palace of Versailles in a free-flying hot air balloon constructed by the Montgolfier brothers. The first manned hydrogen balloon flight had taken place on 1 December 1783, when Professor Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert launched La Charlière from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. Blanchard's flight nearly ended in disaster, when one spectator (Dupont de Chambon, a contemporary of Napoleon at the École militaire de Brienne) slashed at the balloon's mooring ropes and oars with his sword after being refused a place on board. Blanchard intended to "row" northeast to La Villette but the balloon was pushed by the wind across the Seine to Billancourt and back again, landing in the rue de Sèvres. Blanchard adopted the Latin tag Sic itur ad astra as his motto.
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.
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