Jean Fran%C3%A7ois Pil%C3%A2tre de Rozier

JeanFranois Piltre de Rozier was a French chemistry and physics teacher, and one of the first pioneers of aviation. He and the Marquis dArlandes made the first manned free balloon flight onNovember 1783, in a Montgolfier balloon. He later died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the PasdeCalais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. He and his companion, Pierre Romain, thus became the first known fatalities in an air crash. He also risked himself while researching the flammability of hydrogen in A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson writes In France, a chemist named Pilatre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by gulping a mouthful and blowing across an open flame, proving at a stroke that hydrogen is indeed explosively combustible and that eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of ones face.

He was born in Metz, the third son of Magdeleine Wilmard and Mathurin Pilastre, known as de Rozier, a former soldier who became an innkeeper. His interests in the chemistry of drugs had been awakened in the military hospital of Metz, an important garrison town on the border of France. He made his way to Paris at the age of 18, then taught physics and chemistry at the Academy in Reims, which brought him to the attention of Monsieur, the comte de Provence, brother of King Louis XVI.

Source: Wikipedia