Long before low-grade morons were doing dangerous stunts for You Tube…..there was this guy:
What He Tried to Prove:
That he was both an awesome inventor and that the law of gravity simply did not apply to him.The Method:
Franz Reichelt, a tailor by trade, dreamed of inventing a fashion accessory that would allow a person to float safely to the ground after falling from a great height (perhaps after jumping out of one of those new-fangled flying machines they were experimenting with at the time).What He Actually Proved:
Newton’s law of universal gravitation.More specifically, he proved that falling from a great height will result in death even if you happen to be wearing one of these convenient, comfy garments:Reichelt’s “coat parachute,” was supposed to function in the same way as a modern parachute. The ultimate test of his invention was when, in 1912, he jumped off the Eiffel Tower in front of an assembled group of worried onlookers. You can pretty much imagine how that went.
Nice dent in the ground… 😀
#1 Epic dent. I guess test dummies were not yet invented.
lol didn’t i just see this on cracked?
his company, acme made a wide range products showcased in the road runner cartoons…….
The minute the vintage black and white film footage showed a man wearing a ridiculous outfit standing on the edge of some sort of railing, I knew this would end in tears.
The real question is had he successfully bred before attempting this stunt? To be a true Darwin recipient, your bloodline must end with your stunt.
It appears that sclae modeling had not been invented yet.
Pity
Don
#6 Don,
Yes, he had two daughters. One married a man by the last name of Paulson and the other married a Bernanke.
Ah, you gotta love the French. At least he went out in style at the Eiffel Tower, albeit with a thud.
Maybe he should have invented the bungie cord first.
Still, the guy must have had serious balls to not test it first. Either that or he was insane.
This reminds me of the old B&W movie of the guy wearing a parachute driving his motorcycle off a cliff. Same end result.
The Darwin Awards were created for a reason.
When you have faith, and really, Really, REALLY believe, testing is really sacrilegious.
With physics, this error in human emotions pretty soon becomes obvious. Not so obvious in religion, politics, economics, morals, ethics, law, warfare, etc., yet the same error is there too.
#10 – BoBo
>>When you have faith, and really, Really,
>>REALLY believe, testing is really
>>sacrilegious.
Ah, BoBo. You just can’t leave it alone, can you?
I say no to the Darwin award for this one. This guy built something he really believed would work and would have a practical purpose. He believed in it so much that he gave his life demonstrating it.
Would the Wright brothers have been given Darwin Awards if they had died at Kitty Hawk?
Darwin awards are for teenagers who run themselves over with their own cars while car-surfing. More specifically, they are for people who take huge risks for no apparent reason.
This guy may seem stupid by todays standards but in 1912 not a lot was known about arodynamics.
I say yes to the Darwin Award. This guy built something without having any clue as to its ultimate chance of success or failure. Like a random genetic mutation, its actual value was confirmed upon being let loose in the environment that it was to conquer: gravity.
The Wright brothers were an exception. While some may posit that they came up with a similarly unproven radical notion, the point would have been missed that testing, refinement of ideas, guided inspiration and nothing like random conceptual mutation lay behind their invention.
They, unlike Reichelt, believed in their invention because they had sound physics, experimental verification and mutually argued design principles on their side. Even so, Orville nearly died in a crash in 1904, but lessons learned were constantly folded back into refining the flyer’s design.
Darwin Awards are for the impulsive, to be sure, but where people are prone to the irresistible pull of self-delusion–even when that impulse is incorrectly reasoned over longer periods of time, the Award is appropriately issued.
nicely said, Buzz.
Don,
Actually, it was concluded that propagating does not remove your eligibility under the theory that the partners contribution can counteract the lethal stupidity gene that the winner has.
#13, buzz,
Well put. There is much to be said for a tried and tested way over blind faith and hope. This Darwin Winner could have tested the parachute idea using a weight thrown from the tower. Instead, he became the test dummy.
*Lifetime Achievement Award*
The headline is the best part.
And what does he win….?
well we have some lovely parting gifts…