2018-12-01 Sat

This set of stamps, issued by France, in 1934, commemorates the 25th anniversary of Louis Blériot’s first crossing of the English Channel.

The flight took place on July 25th 1909, only 6 years after the first ever heavier than air flight by the Wright brothers in U.S.A. It was the result of a competition held by the “Daily Mail” for the first powered flight across the Channel, the prize for which was £1,000, a great deal of money in those days.

The second competitor was Charles de Lambert and he was forced to withdraw following an accident. Louis Blériot, in an aeroplane of his own design, took off from near Calais and after a flight which lasted 37 minutes crash landed, in poor weather, near Dover. He won the prize and became an overnight celebrity.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of this historical event Poste France issued a set of five stamps with the denominations of 85c, 1.5fr, 2.25fr, 2.5fr and 3fr. The stamp depicts a plane flying over a plain land.

Image Courtesy: https://www.warwickandwarwick.com