Štefan Banič

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Štefan Banič
Monument to Banič in Smolenice

Štefan Banič (born November 23, 1870 in Neštich ; † January 2, 1941 ibid) was a Slovak inventor who invented a military parachute .

Life

After attending elementary school Banič worked for several years as an agricultural worker on a Hofgut the Pálffys and as a bricklayer in the reconstruction of Smolenice Castle , before he immigrated to the United States, where as a miner and factory workers in Greenville (Pennsylvania) worked.

When the aviation enthusiast witnessed a plane crash in 1912, the following year he constructed a parachute that was supposed to save the pilot in the event of a crash. Like the stick of an umbrella, the jumper was stretched into a telescopic umbrella that was supposed to open like an umbrella when he jumped. Banič himself demonstrated the umbrella to employees of the US patent office and representatives of the US Army. He first jumped from a 15-story skyscraper and in 1914 from an airplane. Since no one wanted to buy the patent, the inventor gave the US Patent No. 1108484, which was received in 1913, to the United States Air Force . Banič's invention was the world's first actively used serial parachute and was used by the US armed forces during World War I.

After the war, Štefan Banič returned to Czechoslovakia and was there involved in the discovery of the Drina Cave in the Little Carpathians . Until 1920 he worked as a bricklayer.

Honors

For a long time, Banič's services were hardly recognized. It was not until 1970 that a monument was unveiled at the Bratislava airport . In 2006 his hometown Smolenice also erected a monument to the city's most famous son.

literature

  • Banič, Štefan . In: Biografický lexikón Slovenska . Volume 1. Slovak National Library, National Biographical Institute, Martin 2002, ISBN 80-89023-16-9 , p. 209

Web links

Commons : Štefan Banič  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Famous inventors: Štefan Banič , Slovak Patent Office, accessed on May 12, 2016 (Slovak)
  2. ↑ US Patent No. 1108484 from Free Patents Online, accessed on May 12, 2016 (PDF)
  3. ↑ Slavný vynálezca zo Smoleníc Štefan Banič: Svoj PADAK predal americkej armáde! , Nový Cas , April 21, 2014 (Slovak)
  4. ↑ Štefan Banič , osobnosti.sk, accessed on May 12, 2016 (Slovak)
personal data
SURNAME Banič, Štefan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak inventor
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Neštich
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 1941
Place of death Neštich