📅 First flight across the Channel (1909)
His plane, the Blériot XI, is kept at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris.
Where: Les Baraques, near Calais
📅 On This Day: July 25
July 25, 1909: First flight across the Channel. At dawn on 25 July 1909, Frenchman Louis Blériot took off near Calais in a small plane and landed on the cliffs of Dover, England, 36 minutes and 30 seconds later. It was the first flight across the Channel, a big stretch of sea.
✨ More events on this day
- 1908 🔬 In 1908 Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda found that glutamate gives kombu seaweed soup its savoury taste, which he named umami.
- 1922 💡 Scientist John B. Goodenough was born in 1922; he helped invent the lithium-ion battery that powers phones and laptops, winning a Nobel Prize at age 97.
- 1984 🚀 Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya floated outside the Salyut 7 space station in 1984, becoming the first woman ever to do a spacewalk.
🧠 Question of the day
How long did Blériot's crossing take?
- About 10 hours
- About 3 days
- About 36 minutes
Show the answer
Answer: About 36 minutes
Questions
What happened on July 25?
July 25, 1909: First flight across the Channel. It happened in Les Baraques, near Calais.
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