Who or what event is portrayed in this story?
Franz strutted for the cameras. The large suit attached to his back made him look somewhat like a peacock, but how proud he was.
The day was cold, people huddled together to block the stiff breeze that blew across the lake. Police officers stood at the base of the tower, keeping the crowds back as Franz climbed the steps leading to the first platform.
“You must not do this,” his friends begged. “Use dummies for the test. You must use dummies.”
“Nonsense,” he replied. “I want to try the experiment myself and without trickery, as I intend to prove the worth of my invention. You are going to see how my 72 kilos and my parachute will give your arguments the most decisive of denials.”
At the top, he stood on the rail 187 feet from the ground and waved to the crowds below.
“À bientôt."
After making a few adjustments to his parachute and a slight hesitation, he leapt outwards.
Who or what event is portrayed in this story?
The previous Death By … story is based on:
Julien Offray de La Mettrie, a French physician and philosopher, held a celebration of sensual pleasure which was said to have resulted in his early death. The French ambassador to Prussia, Tirconnel, grateful to La Mettrie for curing him of an illness, held a feast in his honour. It was claimed that La Mettrie wanted to show either his power of gluttony or his strong constitution by devouring a large quantity of pâte de faisan aux truffes. As a result, he developed a gastric illness of some sort, became delirious, and died.
Sources:
Congrats Laura and Bev Hankins! Another point each.
ReplyDeleteLaura - 13 points
JTWebster - 5 points
Bev Hankins - 5 points
Sarah Pearson - 3 points
Old Kitty - 3 points
Glynis - 2 points
Jan Morrison- 2 points
Cherie - 2 points
Suze - 2 points
Nicki Elson - 2 point
Angela Brown - 2 point
Denise Covey - 2 point
Lynda R Young - 2 point
Jayne Robin Brown - 1 point
Youngman - 1 point
Sia McKye - 1 point
Alex Cavanaugh- 1 point
Connie Keller - 1 point
Pat Newcombe - 1 point
Susan Roebuck - 1 point
JC Martin - 1 point
Talli Roland - 1 points
Golden Eagle - 1 point
Cathy Olliffe-Webster - 1 point
Kittie Howard - 1 point
Heather Gardner - 1 point
Richard - 1 point
Journaling woman - 1 point
Christie Wright Wild - 1 point
Gossip Girl - 1 point
Lydia Kang - 1 point
Danielle B - 1 point
Jaye Robin Brown - 1 point
Michael Offutt - 1 point
Jemi Fraser - 1 point
Carol Fleisher - 1 point
Chuck - 1 point
Maggie McGee - 1 point
DL Hammons - 1 point
Let me know if these tallies are off.
And just a hint: Not all names used in the stories will be the right name. Sometimes if I use the right name, it'll be too easy. I can't make it that easy, can I?
that was a lovely death. If death can be lovely at all.....
ReplyDelete"Oops" seems like the obvious comment to make here!
ReplyDeleteI am thinking this was a seriously messy death. Not fun to be the town's street cleaner on that day.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I admit I looked it up. You're referring to Franz Reichelt who was a parachuting pioneer. Unfortunately for him, his parachute wasn't quite perfected when he died by jumping off the Eiffel Tower.
ReplyDeleteSplat.
ReplyDeleteI see body parts everywhere.
ReplyDeleteShelly
Doing A to Z http://secondhandshoesnovel.blogspot.com/
Hi Clarissa .. you are certainly finding deaths by strangeness .. but he died having faith in his contraption ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
Ugh. Not one of those things I'd want to pioneer, lolol!
ReplyDeleteI hate heights to begin with and the only time I want a parachute is in the event the plane goes down. I'd rather take a chance with the parachute than go down with the plane, lol!
I vaguely remembered this from school, and parachute pioneer jumping from the Eiffel Tower. I hate to look up his name though.Reichelt
Sia McKye OVER COFFEE
Clarissa, the "netti-pot" thing was done on this week's episode of House. I was shocked, thinking the entire time "I just read about this."
ReplyDeleteHouse though figured it out before the guy died.
I got lost along the way, and am back catching up on your fascinating posts!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about this one, but gosh what a way to go and especially if you were there and watched that. I was at the WV airshow in Sept setting in a farmers field when one of those planes crashed. It is sometimes still sureal. I was a total wreck, so can't even imagine being a spectator and something like that went wrong.
ReplyDeleteI picked up 'The Poisoner's Handbook.' I'll let you know what I think about it.
ReplyDeleteFranz was some kind of daredevil whose flying experiment went horribly wrong! Yikes! Take care
ReplyDeletex
I think he lived - am I right?
ReplyDeleteFranz Reichelt. This is why parachute tests should be done over water or huge squishy mats.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for your T post. :) I hope your blog readers saw my O post so they'll know the answer right away!!!
Was his jump preceded by "Hey everybody, watch this!"?
ReplyDeleteNo, sadly, Lady Gwen, this man died. He should have listened to his friends and used a dummy.
ReplyDelete@Suze, awesome. Let me know how you like the book.
Oh, Clarissa! What a powerful mental picture you've created here. I almost want to run in and grab Franz before it's too late.
ReplyDeleteYou should always use dummies to try out things, or little brothers.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Um, so Franz, I wonder if his friends were shouting "Use dummies! We implore you!" or "You're a dummy. We'll miss you." :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm betting Franz went 'splat' or something close to it.
ReplyDeletePoor monsieur. But if the parachute would've worked, it would've been magnifique!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I don't know! But it's super interesting!
ReplyDeleteOh dear. My guess is that it wasn't a slow, drifting kind of a landing either, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI believe the guy was French, but don't know his name.
ReplyDeleteFranz Reichelt 1912. Tried to parachute off the Eiffel Tower.
ReplyDeleteOh, Oh! I know this one too!!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the dude's name, but he invented the parachute suit and he was so certain it would work. It might have worked if he'd jumped from higher up.
I don't know, but it seems like he wanted to make a large splash in paris...
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming this guy jumped unsuccessfully off la tour Eiffel??? :)
ReplyDeleteThe victim is French so where else but the Eiffel Tower! He should have used a dummy.
ReplyDeleteYou're going to have a lot of fodder for future stories with all these deaths, Clarissa.
Gosh, what a way to go. Haven't a clue about today's mystery. *sighs*
ReplyDeleteNot a pleasant way to go, but he was determined.
ReplyDeleteDenise
Horrid way to go, better than the nose yoga Neti pot. I almost bought one of those murdering devices~
ReplyDeleteGluttony. Clear one of he seven sins. Jumping off a tower with a parachute...just plain stupid. Thanks for my point!!
ReplyDeleteDeath by truffle, I think I approve.
ReplyDeleteAs always great deaths here.
Wagging Tales
"Oh-oh" was probably went through his mind as he plummeted to his death.
ReplyDeleteJ.C. Martin
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