Francois Blanchard, a French aeronaut, born at Andelys in 1738, died in Paris, March 7,1809. In his youth he spent his time in trying to make flying machines, and after the invention of the balloon in 1783 became greatly interested in that contrivance. He constructed a balloon with wings and a rudder, in which he ascended in March, 1784. On Jan. 7,1785, he crossed the British channel from Dover to Calais, for which Louis XVI. rewarded him with a gift of 12,000 francs and a life pension of 1,200 francs. He invented a parachute to break the fall in case of accident, and first used it in London in 1785. He went through various parts of Europe, and in 1796 made a visit to New York, displaying everywhere his aeronautic skill. In 1798 he ascended from Rouen with 16 persons in a large balloon, and descended at a place 15 miles distant. In 1808, while making his 66th ascent, at the Hague, he had an apoplectic stroke, from the effects of which he died in the succeeding year. - His wife, Marie Madeleine Sophie Armant, continued to make aerial voyages; but in June, 1819, having ascended from the Tivoli garden in Paris, her balloon, illuminated with fireworks, took fire at a considerable height, and she was dashed to pieces.