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Big air equals big thrills with this new extreme water sport
Kiteboarding or kitesurfing, if you don't already know, is like snowboarding on water. This, behind a boat, is called wakeboarding. OK, now forget the boat and add a giant kite for the power source. The kite is controlled or steered using a control...
Making Music As A Lefty
Author Interview with Ryan Thomson, seacoast New Hampshire resident, and author of a new book advocating left handed violin playing by lefties. - Playing Violin and Fiddle Left Handed.
This piece started out as an actual interview for an...
Paintball Games – Enhance the Challenge
Since the first paintball game in the 1980s, much has changed in the sport. Paintball is a unique activity in the fact that it offers benefits for players of all skill levels. Paintball is a game for the beginner and the expert. That being said,...
The history of swooping
Swooping is a very new form of skydiving, so the history of this sport has to date back to skydiving, itself. Skydiving has roots back to the very first ideas that humanity had regarding flying. It was thought that with a balloon or parachute it...
Will Britain Ever Produce a 9 Ball World Champion?
Will the start of the WPC only two days away the question is already being asked. Can the UK ever produce a 9 Ball World Champion? Although for some time the UK has had many talented players none of them have ever really stepped forward and put...
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Parachutes And Who Made The First Parachute Jump
The first parachute jump in history is a bit debatable. While many seem to think that an extreme sport like parachuting has its roots in recent history, it has, in fact, been around for centuries. In 852 A.D., Arman Firman, a Muslim holy man, jumped from a tower in Cordoba, Spain. At the time, he was wearing a billowy, large cloak. While in theory this should have slowed him down and allowed him to float gently to the earth (he also believed this to be true), it did little to help his jump. He crashed to the earth at a frightening speed, but lived to tell the tale of the first parachute jump.
A cloak, however, is not a true parachute. Most give credit to Leonardo Da Vinci for creating the first designs of parachutes. Da Vinci spent years studying birds. He truly believed human flight was possible. He, therefore, spent an extensive amount of time trying to create a vehicle that might help man fly. While Da Vinci never tried any of his ideas, he left behind sketches and instructional texts dealing with the first parachute jump.
Over the course of the next few hundred years, others tried to create the first parachute jump, but none succeeded. All were unrecorded events. Andre Jacques Garnerin, in 1797, jumped from a hot air balloon with a chute made of silk. It looked as if he were following Da Vinci's designs. The first parachute jump
was a success, but there was little use for the parachute. It was considered only for show.
However, with the creation of airplanes, parachutes became more useful vehicles. By World War II, they were standard issue equipment for pilots as life saving devices. Today, hundreds of people make their first parachute jump each day. Parachuting has become an extreme sport of magnificent popularity. First timers take several hours of training to complete the first parachute jump. They are trained in everything they need to know to make the jump safe including what equipment is used during a jump, how to leave the plane they'll be jumping from, how to us a reserve chute in case the first doesn't open, and how to land. Historically, the first parachute jump is in question, but thousands make their first parachute jump each year.
About The Author
John Ewing is the author and editor of many reviews published at http://www.skydiving-parachuting-guide.com. Ewing used to add helpful skydiving equipment articles and powered parachutes reviews at his site. You can find further information about this interesting topic at http://www.skydiving-parachuting-guide.com/parachutes.html.
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