Daily Survival Guide

Today in Survival History
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The first successful crossing of the English Channel by air occurred on this day in 1785. An American, John Jeffries, and a Frenchman, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, crossed from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon. Their flight came only 14 months after the first manned hot air balloon flight had taken place and only a few days after two men had died attempting the Channel crossing. Minutes before reaching the French coast, Jeffries and Blanchard were forced to throw almost everything they had out of the balloon as it began to crash toward the Earth. Jeffries went so far as to throw his pants overboard in order to avoid crashing.