2-359-876 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Louis Bleriot, pioneering French aviator, 1909. Bleriot (1872-1936) made his fortune through manufacturing acetylene headlamps for motor cars but he is famous for being the first person to fly across the English Channel, from Calais to Dover, in his Bleriot type XI 24HP monoplane on 25 July 1909. He later became an aircraft manufacturer and his company built the famous SPAD fighter aircraft which was flown by all the Allied Nations during WWI. A photograph from Album de Photographies, Dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1850-1950, Editions MD, 22 Rue de L'Arcade, Paris 8, 1850-1950.