On February 4, 1912, Franz Reichelt, a tailor from

Austria-Hungary, jumped to his death from the Eiffel

Tower while testing a parachute suit of his own

design. Reichelt had been working on the suit for

several years, and he was convinced that it would

work.

On the day of the jump, Reichelt arrived at the Eiffel

Tower with a crowd of journalists and onlookers. He

was wearing his parachute suit and carrying a large

suitcase. He climbed to the first platform of the tower

and then stepped off the edge.

The parachute failed to deploy and he plummeted 57

metres (187 ft) to his death.