Sophie Blanchard was a French aeronaut. The widow of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard, she was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist. Though nervous on the ground, she was a fearless aeronaut and after her husband's death she continued ballooning, making more than 60 ascents. Known throughout Europe for her ballooning exploits, she entertained Napoleon Bonaparte, who promoted her to the role of "Aeronaut of the Official Festivals", replacing André-Jacques Garnerin. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1814 she performed for Louis XVIII, who named her "Official Aeronaut of the Restoration". Ballooning was a risky business for the pioneers. Blanchard lost consciousness on a couple of occasions, endured freezing temperatures and almost drowned when her balloon crashed in a marsh. In 1819 she became the first woman to be killed in an aviation accident when, during an exhibition in the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon. Her craft crashed on the roof of a house and she fell to her death.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Blanchard

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1493: Christopher Columbus became the first European to land on Puerto Rico, an island he named San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico)

1816: The University of Warsaw, currently the largest university in Poland, was established as The Royal University of Warsaw after Warsaw was separated from Kraków, the oldest and most influential Polish academic centre. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Warsaw)

1863: American Civil War: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (Lincoln's "Hay Draft" pictured) at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most quoted speeches in United States history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address)

1942: World War II: The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran destroyed each other off the coast of Western Australia in the Indian Ocean. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_between_HMAS_Sydney_and_HSK_Kormoran)

1969: Playing for Santos against Vasco da Gama at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian football player Pelé scored his 1000th goal on a penalty kick. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9)

1999: Shenzhou 1, China's first unmanned test flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_1)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

prurient: Uneasy with desire; having a lascivious anxiety or propensity. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prurient)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the inheritance which awaits them. In this beneficent work sections and races should be forgotten and partisanship should be unknown. -- James A. Garfield (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield)