Bleriot's monoplane, 1909, (1932). French aviator, inventor and engineer Louis Bleriot (1872-1936) made the first successful flight across the English Channel in 1909. He flew from Calais to Dover in his XI monoplane in 36 minutes and 30 seconds. From "Die Eroberung Der Luft", (The Conquest of the Air), cigarette card album produced by the Garb?ty cigarette factory, 1932. Eugene and Moritz Garb?ty, who were Jewish, were driven out of business by the Nazis in the late 1930s, and forced to sell their factory which lay empty for over 70 years. [Garbaty Cigarettenfabrik, Berlin-Pankow, 1932]