Henri Coanda (1886-1972)

Henri Coanda was a Romanian inventor, born in Bucharest on June 7, 1886. He attended the Military Lycee in Iasi, and also attended the School of Artillery, Military, and Naval Engineering in Bucharest. He eventually became an artillery officer in the military, but this was not his primary interest -- the technicalities of flight were. Coanda began conducting experiments to gain more knowledge about various aspects of aerodynamics.

In 1910 he built and flew the first thermojet aircraft, aptly named the Coanda-1910. He went on to build a number of other aircraft, including the Bristol-Coanda series of aircraft and the Coanda-1916. He was also a consultant on the project that developed the Caravelle transport aircraft.

Source: Henri Marie Coandă (Wikipedia)
Picture of invention: Coanda-1910 (Wikipedia)
Picture of Henri Marie Coandă