This Month in St. Louis History

The country's first parachute jump in 1912

da Vinci's original sketch

St. Louis has had an important part in the ountry's history of aviation and space exploration for many years. One of the more unique parts is a parachute jump from a plane in 1912.

On March 1, 1912, Captain Albert Berry completed what is described as the first successful parachute jump from an airplane. He made the jump as a promotional stunt for an aviation school in Kinloch Park, near St. Louis.

Of course, the parachute has been thought about for centuries. The famed artist Leonardo da Vinci completed a sketch of a parachute in 1514. But, turning that first sketch into an actual jump out of a plane took quite a bit longer.

Other March anniversaries include: :

The first successful parachute jump in 1912

For the first parachute jump, Captain Berry rode in a "pusher" airplane, piloted by Anthony Jannus. The "pusher" name came because the engine was mounted in the rear with the propeller facing backwards.

The parachute was carried in a metal cone dangling from the plane's undercarriage.

the working model of da Vinci's chute

In those days, jumping from an airplane was considered to be impossible and/or crazy.

Pilot Jannus flew from Kinloch Field to the Jefferson Barracks area to provide for a safe drop site. Jannus took the plane up over 1,000 feet before the jump.

To get into the chute, Berry had to climb down the plane's undercarriage and put his legs into two loops attached to the parachute.

After the jump, Berry said, "I dropped a full 500 feet before the parachute opened and admit to feeling uneasy."

Actually, both Berry and Jannus were more worried about the plane. They felt the plane might become unstable when the weight of the parachute and Berry was subtracted. However, both the chute and the plane performed well.

The history of the parachute dates all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci. He sketched what he thought a parachute should look like as far back as 1514.

The Australian Parachute Federation has published a history of parachuting. It confirmed that Captain Berry was one of the claimants to being the first to jump successfully from a plane.

A write-up of the Berry jump is included on the Jefferson Barracks website. You can see it by going to www.co.st-louis.mo.us/parks/j-b.html.

If you're interested in other aspects of parachute history, visit the Discovery Channel website, EXN.ca at http://exn.ca/stories/2000/06/27/56.asp.

There is a neat story about an Englishman, Adrian Nicholas, who built a parachute from da Vinci's original design. Then he actually put his faith in the long-dead artist and jumped out of a plane.

Nicholas is quoted in the article as saying, just before he jumped, "All right, Mr. Da Vinci. You promised me it would be safe. I'm trusting you."

March is Women's History Month

The St. Louis Public Library has an interesting feature for kids about Women's History Month. It lists six different websites where kids can get information about the role of women in our society.

The sites include:

To access those sites, go to www.slpl.lib.mo.us/kidzone/links/kwomen.htm.

Another interesting website for Women's History Month is Riverdeep. It's feature this month is about Sacagawea, the only woman on the Lewis&Clark Journey of Discovery.

To visit the site, go to www.riverdeep.net/current/2000/03/front.100300.sacagawea.jhtml

 

Missouri's official state flag

For over a century after getting statehood, Missouri didn't have an official state flag.

Finally, in 1908, the Daughters of the American Revolution formed a committee to look into a flag design. The committee was headed by Mrs. Marie Elizabeth Oliver of Cape Girardeau.

A year later, Mrs. Oliver's husband, Sen. Robert Burett Oliver, submitted a bill to adopt the DAR's design.

But, it turned out that there was a competing flag design, this one by Dr. G. H. Holcomb.

It wasn't until March 22, 1913, that the flag legislation was passed and the Oliver design was adopted.

St. Louis American first published in 1928

The St. Louis American newspaper began publishing on March 17, 1928. During its 77-year history, it has evolved into one of the largest and most-awarded African-American newspaper in the country.

It's current publisher, Dr. Donald M. Suggs, this year was named St. Louis' Citizen of the Year.

Suggs and two other St. Louis businessmen purchased the American in 1981. He gained controlling interest in 1984 and the paper has increased in circulation and advertising. The paper also has increased in political and civic influence under Suggs' leadership.

It has been honored several times in recent years with the Russwurm award. That award is given annually to an African-American newspaper judged to be the best in the country.

To see the paper's on-line edition, visit www.stlamerican.com.