Today's Tidbit... Dropping The Ball And Other Parachuting Stories
Men began jumping from hot air balloons and tall buildings with the aid of parachutes in the late 1700s. They all landed, though some did so far faster than planned. Still, parachute technologies improved over the next century until men jumping from hot air balloons was safe enough to be featured at county and state fairs. Still, the risk of death or dismemberment remained high enough to attract a crowd.
Many of the fairs featuring death-defying acts also included football games and other athletic contests, so the first entangling of parachuting and football likely came at some long-forgotten fair. Parachuting at fairs became more common after the development of heavier-than-air machines, and the poor safety record of aeroplanes made the development of better parachutes all the more critical. Even expert pilots like Charles Lindbergh had bailed out four times before he tried crossing the Atlantic. At the same time, Congressman Phil D. Ewing of San Diego pushed for a law requiring commercial airlines to provide parachutes for passengers and crews. (Imagine boarding a commercial airliner considered so unreliable that they issued parachutes to passengers.)
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