André-Jacques Garnerin, Official Aeronaut of France
June 17, 2018 8:20 AM   Subscribe

On October 22, 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin ascended to 3,000 feet in a hydrogen balloon -- and became the first person to parachute from a high altitude. The Paris crowds below watched, mesmerized, as Garnerin detached his basket and parachute from the hydrogen balloon. Anxiety must have diffused through the crowd like bolts of lightening as Garnerin began to free-fall, until seconds later his parachute opened. A small revolution had taken place a few thousand feet above the crowds, as a man began slowly descending beneath his parachute, and the crowds were ecstatic.

Due to the parachute's design, however, it began oscillating wildly during the descent, at times threatening to throw Garnerin from his basket. Miraculously, he remained secure, and despite being considerably shaken, collected himself after landing to be received into what must have been an incredible celebration.

Monsieur Garnerin would go on to perform many more parachute jumps from greater heights in both France and England, including a scandalous jump with himself and a young woman named Citoyenne Henri.

In 1799, his wife Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse would become the first woman to parachute alone, and his niece Élisa Garnerin would go on to be a renown parachutist, who also made many improvements to his parachute design.

André-Jacques Garnerin died in Paris on 18 August, 1823, in a construction accident while making a balloon.

* Main link from the fascinating blog of Geri Walton, covering unique and odd topics from the 18th and 19th century.

Related:
* A brief history of parachuting from the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association
* A history of the parachute from ThoughtCo
posted by kmkrebs (8 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is a great post, thank you.
posted by Rumple at 10:24 AM on June 17, 2018


Well that ended better for Mssr. Garnerin than it did for poor ol' Franz Reichelt (previously).
posted by Nelson at 11:02 AM on June 17, 2018


It's fascinating that less than 15 years after the first untethered ballon flight, people (or at least one person) are thinking "let's take that thing way up and jump out!"
posted by YoungStencil at 11:40 AM on June 17, 2018 [4 favorites]


Hmm, only some three years after the man who first isolated and identified hydrogen, and named it, Antoine Lavoisier, was guillotined by the Revolution.
posted by jamjam at 12:15 PM on June 17, 2018 [3 favorites]


On October 22, 1797, André-Jacques Garnerin ascended to 3,000 feet in a hydrogen balloon -- and became the first person to parachute from a high altitude.

"...and survive."
posted by rhizome at 1:00 PM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


That article linked to another great article about the first female balloonist. Link.
posted by Sphinx at 1:58 PM on June 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


I've been involved in DC history for ~25 years, and only recently learned that one of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's influences in designing Washington was, likely, the notion that it would be viewed from the air. The massive cognitive leap / change involved in the perspective that pioneers / lunatics like Garnerin brought us in ushering in modern city planning / urbanism probably should not be understated.
posted by ryanshepard at 2:49 PM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


ryanshepard, you might be interested in this FPP.
posted by Rumple at 3:26 PM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older D.L.I.V.E.   |   From Little Fanny to Fluffy Ruffles Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments