INVENTOR

Franz Reichelt

1879 - 1912

Photo of Franz Reichelt

Icon of person Franz Reichelt

Franz Reichelt (16 October 1878 – 4 February 1912), also known as Frantz Reichelt or François Reichelt, was an Austro-Hungarian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for jumping to his death from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design. Reichelt had become fixated on developing a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall should they be forced to leave their aircraft in mid-air. Initial experiments conducted with dummies dropped from the fifth floor of his apartment building had been successful, but he was unable to replicate those early successes with any of his subsequent designs. Believing that a suitably high test platform would prove his invention's efficacy, Reichelt repeatedly petitioned the Parisian Prefecture of Police for permission to conduct a test from the Eiffel Tower. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Franz Reichelt is the 121st most popular inventor (down from 96th in 2019), the 163rd most popular biography from Czechia (down from 123rd in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Czech Inventor.

Franz Reichelt was a tailor who attempted to test his invention of a parachute by jumping off the Eiffel Tower in 1912. He died on impact.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Franz Reichelt by language

Loading...

Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Franz Reichelt ranks 121 out of 426. Before him are Clément Ader, Jacque Fresco, Robert Noyce, James Hargreaves, Edmund Cartwright, and Theobald Boehm. After him are Samuel Crompton, Hans von Ohain, Nikolai Kardashev, Paul Otlet, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., and André Michelin.

Most Popular Inventors in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1879, Franz Reichelt ranks 48. Before him are Bedřich Hrozný, Friedrich Adler, Sarojini Naidu, Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Boris Savinkov, and Adolf Strauss. After him are Aleksandar Stamboliyski, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Joe Hill, Frederick Griffith, Joseph Avenol, and Nikolai Medtner. Among people deceased in 1912, Franz Reichelt ranks 30. Before him are John Jacob Astor IV, Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Nettie Stevens, Bolesław Prus, Nogi Maresuke, and Arthur MacArthur Jr.. After him are George Darwin, Mykola Lysenko, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, James Paul Moody, Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria, and Henry Tingle Wilde.

Others Born in 1879

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1912

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Czechia

Among people born in Czechia, Franz Reichelt ranks 163 out of 1,200. Before him are Jan Kodeš (1946), Jarmila Kratochvílová (1951), Carl von Rokitansky (1804), Georg Benda (1722), Josef Čapek (1887), and Rafael Kubelík (1914). After him are František Palacký (1798), Victor Adler (1852), Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760), Věra Chytilová (1929), Karel Schwarzenberg (1937), and Bretislav I (1005).

Others born in Czechia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among INVENTORS In Czechia

Among inventors born in Czechia, Franz Reichelt ranks 3. Before him are Alois Senefelder (1771), and Daniel Swarovski (1862). After him are Josef Ressel (1793), Prokop Diviš (1698), and František Křižík (1847).

Czech born Inventors

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous