Infamous Early 20th Century Daredevil Shows Off His ‘Skydive Suit,’ Promptly Falls to His Death

Well… What did we learn here?

Back in the heyday of invention, people were pushing all sorts of crazy things onto the market, many of which with dubious efficacy.

Franz Reichelt was one of those harebrained inventors. In the early 1900s, Reichelt became obsessed with creating a parachute suit for pilots. Early tests with dummies hurled from his apartment building went, you know, fine, and soon, Reichelt set his sights on the Eiffel Tower as the ultimate proving ground for his invention.

After much convincing, the Parisian authorities finally gave him the green light in 1912 to run a test using some dummies. But when the big day arrived, Reichelt announced he’d be taking the plunge himself. When he attempted to pull the chute, nothing came out, resulting in a strange and incredible death that was, unbelievably, captured on film.