The 100th anniversary of the issuing of US patent to the Slovak Štefan Banič for his invention of parachute was commemorated on Saturday in his hometown, Smolenice (Trnava region). "He was the first man to invent the device aimed to protect pilots. The patent rights were later acquired by the US Army, yet his invention has never entered mass production because later parachutes were started to be produced in the form we know today”, says Viktor Timura of the Military Paratroopers Club. He adds that Banič's invention was different from contemporary parachutes.
"His parachute had a metal structure attached to the pilot's waist. A canvas was affixed to it that opened during the jump and stretched taut." Born in Smolenice on November 28, 1870, Banič invented the first parachute ever in 1913. A year later, he tested his device by jumping from a 15-floor building in Washington D.C. before US Patent Office and military representatives. He donated the patent, which helped to save lives of many American aviators during WW1, to the US Army.
