Louis Charles Joseph Blériot (1 July 1872 – 2 August 1936) was a French aviator inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement he received a prize of GB£1000 (5 000 dollars; US 1910). He also is credited as the first person to make a working monoplane. Blériot was a pioneer of the sport of air racing.
