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Franz Reichelt’s Fatal Leap from the Eiffel Tower
Snippet Christopher James Botham Snippet Christopher James Botham

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.

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