ATLANTIC

CROSSINGS

A PERSISTENCE OF VISION

BY THE PAN AM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION

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ABOUT "ATLANTIC CROSSINGS"

Not many stories in the development of the modern world have more importance than the growing connection down the centuries between the "Old" and "New" Worlds, particularly in regards to what happened across the Atlantic.

The first transatlantic connections between Europe and North America are lost in the mists of time. The lure of the unseen shore has been with us for a long time, leaving only legends, scant archeological remains, and ancient hearsay to provide any records. But by the end of the 15th. century, we do know about Atlantic crossings — first a trickle, then a growing tide of travel between the continents on either side of the Atlantic.

**Nautical Map of the Atlantic Ocean Pen-and-ink and watercolor, by cartographer Battista Agnese, c. 1544 (Library of Congress) https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200m.gct00001.**

**Nautical Map of the Atlantic Ocean Pen-and-ink and watercolor, by cartographer Battista Agnese, c. 1544 (Library of Congress) https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3200m.gct00001.**

Any crossing by ship, let alone in comfort, remained a tentative venture for centuries. The trip remained slow and subject to wind, weather, and wooden hulls.

**Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, April 1894, US Navel Oceanographic Office. (David Rumsey Collection) https://www.davidrumsey.com/**

**Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, April 1894, US Navel Oceanographic Office. (David Rumsey Collection) https://www.davidrumsey.com/**

It wasn't until the late 19th century, after ships were built of steel, and powered by steam, that the trip began to take on something resembling an experience we'd consider as modern travel.

**The R.M.S. Lusitania under full steam 1908 by Antonio Jacobsen (Wikimedia Paintings of Ships by Antonio Jacobsen) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_of_ships_by_Antonio_Jacobsen**

**The R.M.S. Lusitania under full steam 1908 by Antonio Jacobsen (Wikimedia Paintings of Ships by Antonio Jacobsen) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_of_ships_by_Antonio_Jacobsen**

Great ocean liners didn't appear until shortly before the advent of powered flight at the dawn of the 20th century.

And at that point, the dream of intercontinental travel began to take off towards a new paradigm altogether. The question then became: Can we cross the Atlantic by air? The answer was, after many attempts on both sides of the Atlantic, yes.

**Bleriot in flying machine, in mid-channel, Louis Blériot's English channel crossing on July 25, 1909 (Library of Congress) https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.04095/**

**Bleriot in flying machine, in mid-channel, Louis Blériot's English channel crossing on July 25, 1909 (Library of Congress) https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ggbain.04095/**

**Illustration of Bleriot Monoplane, from "Flying Machines Today" by William D. Ennis (Van Nostrand) 1911, p. 160 (Library of Congress).**

**Illustration of Bleriot Monoplane, from "Flying Machines Today" by William D. Ennis (Van Nostrand) 1911, p. 160 (Library of Congress).**

1909

LOUIS BLÉRIOT

"FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT OVER A LARGE BODY OF WATER"

On July 25, 1909 Louis Blériot crossed the English channel flying his little Type XI monoplane, in a dramatic thirty-two-mile, thirty-seven minute flight. His achievement made history as the "first successful flight over a large body of water..."

"The weather became turbulent, and visibility declined; he later recalled thinking - I am alone. I can see nothing at all. At Dover, the wind nearly caused him to crash, and his landing gear and propeller were damaged. But he had made it..."

- National Air and Space Museum-