The Most Unfortunate Person In History
Fortune always plays a role in human affairs. History knows many men whose fortune led them to splendid glories. There are also some, for whom it was failures that brought them to the pinnacle of fame. There is a story of a man known as «Flying Tailor», whose fatal failure appeared on front pages of the most popular newspapers.
The importance of aircraft systems proved by World War II gave rise to the aviation age that started with many experiments and inevitable accidents. In 1911 there was announced a prize for safety parachutes. The race was competitive attracting many inventors from different countries, including Franz Reichelt, a tailor with a successful dress-making business.
Reichelt started working on his parachute suit in 1910. He conducted first successful experiments with dummies, throwing them out of the courtyard of his building. Inspired by first success he struggled to refine his original design to a workable suit, fit for a competition. Reichelt`s further experiments did not prove successful. He attributed the failures of his design to short drop distances and was keen to test the parachute from a greater height.
In 1912 after a couple of rejections, he received a permission to conduct his experiment from the Eiffel Tower. When he arrived at the tower he surprised everyone by an intention to make the jump himself instead of using dummies. He was so sure of his invention and so eager to prove its worth to everybody, that no attempts of dissuasion impressed him. Reichelt jumped off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower straight down to his death with the parachute only half-open.
Photographs and video of this tragic jump are available in the internet nowadays. Franz Reichelt will now be among the great names ready to sacrifice even their lives for the sake of progress. Some call him foolish or mad genius, I think that his brave belief in possibilities of mind deserves admiration. History is written by those who struggle in their achievements and failures, accompanied by fortune and misfortune.
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