Up, up and away!

We all fly by the seat of our pants now and then, but hot air balloon pioneers Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries took things to a whole new level. On 7 January, 1785, they made history over these chalk cliffs with the first aerial crossing of the English Channel. When their hydrogen-filled balloon lost altitude due to overloading, the two tossed all the cargo they could into the sea, trousers included, and reached France in their underpants - which must have been chilly at this time of year.
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