July 1, 1872
Transportation pioneer Louis Blériot was born in the city of Cambrai in northern France. He studied engineering at École Centrale (now part of CentraleSupélec) in Paris. Automobiles became the first means of transportation in which Blériot became actively involved. He developed the world’s first practical headlamps for these vehicles by using a compact integral acetylene generator. Blériot opened a showroom for his headlamps in Paris in 1897 and the business became so successful that his clients ultimately included Renault and Panhard-Levassor, two of the leading automobile manufacturers in France at the time.
Blériot used the money earned from his headlamps business to pursue what had become his full-fledged enthusiasm for the possibilities of human flight. One of his earliest aviation efforts took place in 1900, when he built his own version of a motor-powered, wing-flapping aircraft known as an ornithopter. While this version proved to be unsuccessful, Blériot did not waver in his resolve to create more durable types of airborne transportation.
In 1903, Blériot joined forces with Gabriel Voisin, his brother Charles Voisin, and Édouard Surcouf. Their shared enterprise was called the Ateliers d’ Aviation, Edouard Surcouf, Blériot et Voisin, and it is widely regarded as the first aircraft manufacturing company. One of the company’s notable works was a floatplane glider introduced in 1905. After this company was dissolved the following year, Blériot staked out on his own to continue constructing and flying aircraft. He named his solo venture Reserches Aéronautiques Louis Blériot. One of his creations at this point in his life was the Blériot V, which became the first successful monoplane.
Another one of his monoplanes was the Blériot XI, which he piloted across the English Channel from France to England on July 25, 1909. Blériot undertook this flight in the hope of winning a £1,000 prize offered by the London-based Daily Mail for the first successful crossing of a heavier-than-air machine over that channel. Blériot completed this history-making trip in 36 minutes and 30 seconds.
Blériot continued to focus his considerable expertise and energies on aeronautical engineering and design. In 1914, he became president of the financially struggling aircraft company Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin. Blériot renamed this company Société Pour Aviation et ses Derives and transforme dit into one of France’s major producers of combat aircraft during World War I.
Blériot’s post-war initiatives included establishing his own company, Blériot-Aéronautique, to develop commercial aircraft. Bléiot died in Paris in August 1936 at the age of 64. He was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 1967. (The accompanying image of Blériot was created by caricaturist Georges Goursat [popularly known as Sem] in 1910.)
Image Credit: Public Domain
For more information on Louis Blériot, please check out https://www.poentetechnical.com/louis-bleriot/louis-bleriot-the-predecessor-of-modern-aviation/
Transportation History 
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