Dover has been in the front line of many aspects of world history one of which is aviation. The first aerial crossing of the English Channel took place from Dover, on Friday 7 January 1785 by Dr. John Jeffries (1744–1819) and Jean-Pierre Blanchard, (1753–1809).
Blanchard was born near Rouen, France, into a poor family. He became fascinated with the idea of flying from an early age but when Joseph and Jacque Montgolfier succeeded in launching the first man-ascent in 1783, Blanchard became obsessed. His ambition was to cross the Channel and by training and working hard to raise finance, he became a professional balloonist.