Editorial use only Bleriot in his monoplane, early 20th century. French aviator Louis Bleriot (1872-1936) flew across the English Channel on 25 July 1909, the first to do so. Bleriot began building aircraft as early as 1900, when he designed an ornithopter. From 1903 to 1906 he worked with Gabriel Voisin. In 1909, he attempted to win the large sum of money on offer to anyone who could fly across the English Channel. Flying in a Bleriot XI plane, he won the prize by flying from Calais to Dover in 40 minutes. This photograph, from the Bain News Service, one of the USA's earliest news picture libraries, dates from the period between 1900 and 1925.