March 1, 1912
The first parachute jump from an airplane takes place in St. Louis. U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry made history when he got into an airplane, took off from Kinloch Field, and then jumped out over Jefferson Barracks Army Base. How daring was this? The Benoist plane, piloted by Tony Jannus, was an open-air type of plane. Berry had to climb out of his seat and climb onto a trapeze-type bar, put on his parachute, then let go.
According to published accounts, Berry repeated the feat on March 10. It should be noted that Berry had already made several parachute jumps from hot air balloons.
Based upon content from the book Missouri 365: This Day in Missouri History by John W. Brown, broadcaster and Missouri historian. Get your copy at Reedy Press.
Photo “512c91e059162.preview-620” by Marshallplan is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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