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      The Frenchman Louis Blériot, then 37, had invested the money he had made from designing the first headlamps for cars into his passion for aviation. This was still in its earliest years and it was Blériot who built the first monoplane and devised the use of a joystick and pedals to control the flight of an aircraft.

      The Daily Mail had offered a £1,000 prize to the first pilot to cross the Channel, but most people – including the Wright Brothers – considered the venture impossible or too risky. Nevertheless, a crowd of 10,000 gathered to watch Blériot take off near the workings of the late-nineteenth century project to dig a Channel Tunnel.

      Blériot, limping from burns suffered on a previous flight, took 36 minutes to fly the 22 miles (35 kilometres) to Dover at an average speed of 45 mph. He briefly lost sight of the Kent coast when the visibility dipped but otherwise the journey was uneventful.

      Subsequently, he set up a business manufacturing aircraft, including during the First World War. In 1927, Blériot greeted Charles Lindbergh when the American touched down on French soil after becoming the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic. (See Lindbergh.)

       THE ARREST OF DR CRIPPEN

      1 August 1910

      I have just returned from the steamship Montrose and witnessed the drama that was enacted on her deck.

      Inspector Dew, of Scotland Yard, with Chief Constable McCarthy and ex-Chief Constable Denis, of the Canadian Provincial Police – all three disguised as pilots with blue suits and white caps – went off to the Montrose at 8.30 a.m. in a lifeboat rowed by four sailors. “Dr.” Crippen was smoking and promenading the deck with Miss Le Neve and Dr. Stuart, the ship’s surgeon. He asked the doctor why so many pilots should come, to which Dr. Stuart replied – “They are probably returning to their homes, being out of turn.” The supposed pilots went on board and walked along until they passed the spot where Crippen and Miss Le Neve were standing with Dr. Stuart. Then as Inspector Dew got a good, quick look at Crippen and the girl, he gave the preconcerted signal, and the constables made the arrest and took the couple down to separate state-rooms, where they are now confined.

      Only 15 minutes elapsed from the time the constables went on board until the arrests were effected. Crippen turned the colour of death, and his voice gurgled some unintelligible sound as he was hurried below. Miss Le Neve became hysterical and fainted.

      The signal agreed upon was then blown by the Montrose’s whistle for the pilot steam tender Eureka to come alongside to permit the Press representatives and Press photographers to board the Montrose and proceed in her to Quebec, where she will arrive about 9 o’clock to-night. This had been arranged between Inspector Dew and the Press for fear that the appearance of a large number of people might alarm the fugitives and that Crippen might defeat the law by committing suicide. The Eureka stayed only a few minutes alongside the Montrose, and then returned to Father Point wharf with this despatch.