On this day

On January 7, 1610, Galileo made his first observation of the moons of Jupiter.

In 1785, two men flew across the English Channel, from Dover to Calais, by balloon. Note that it was in 1801 that that John Jervis wrote of Napoleon's invasion force, "I do not say, my Lords, that the French will not come. I say only they will not come by sea."