Louis Charles Joseph Blériot (BLERR-ee-oh, also US: BLAY-ree-oh, -⁠OH, blair-YOH, French: [lwi ʃaʁl ʒozɛf bleʁjo]; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of the money he made to finance his attempts to build a successful aircraft. Blériot was the first to use the combination of hand-operated joystick and foot-operated rudder control as used to the present day to operate the aircraft control surfaces.

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Key figuresLouis Blériot