Welcome to On Verticality. This blog explores the innate human need to escape the surface of the earth, and our struggles to do so throughout history. If you’re new here, a good place to start is the Theory of Verticality section or the Introduction to Verticality. If you want to receive updates on what’s new with the blog, you can use the Subscribe page to sign up. Thanks for visiting!
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Franz Reichelt’s Fatal Leap from the Eiffel Tower
Pictured above is an illustration showing Franz Reichelt, a French tailor and inventor who was an early pioneer of parachuting. He had developed a wearable suit for pilots that would expand into a parachute should they need to eject themselves from their aircraft. He tested the design from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower in 1912, falling to his death after the parachute failed to open properly.