100 years ago: this very minute. 25th July 1909, approx 04:35 GMT
Louis Blériot, in his XI monoplane, departs from Calais in an attempt to complete the first flight over a large body of water (the English Channel).
His rivals for the £1,000 prize, offered by Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, were Hubert Latham - a French national of English extraction, and Charles de Lambert - a Russian aristocrat with French ancestry and one of Wilbur Wright’s students.
Latham was favored by both the United Kingdom and France to win. He had attempted to fly across on 19th July, but six miles (10 km) from the shore at Dover he developed engine trouble and was forced to make a sea landing. Lambert suffered a major crash during a test flight, forcing him to withdraw from the race completely..
July 25, 2009, 4:35am
