Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
Jean-Pierre [François] Blanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the air in a balloon, in particular the first crossing of the English Channel, on 7 January 1785.