Human cannonball
Encyclopedia
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
. The impetus is provided not by gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, but by either a spring
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
or jet of compressed air
Pneumatics
Pneumatics is a branch of technology, which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or compressed inert gases...
. In a circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
performance, gunpowder may be used to provide visual and auditory effects, but this is unrelated to the launching mechanism.
The human cannonball lands on a horizontal net or inflated bag, the placement of which is determined by classical mechanics
Classical mechanics
In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces...
. Outdoor performances may also aim at a body of water.
History
The first human cannonball, in 1877 at the Royal AquariumRoyal Aquarium
The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a Westminster, London place of amusement opened in 1876. The building was demolished in 1903. It was located immediately to the west of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in a highly ornamental style faced...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was a 14 year-old girl called "Zazel", whose real name was Rossa Matilda Richter. She was launched by a spring-style cannon invented by Canadian William Leonard Hunt
William Leonard Hunt
William Leonard Hunt , also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well known nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian funambulist, entertainment promoter and inventor, as well as the first known white man to cross the Kalahari Desert on foot and survive.-Early life:Hunt, the second...
("The Great Farini"). She later toured with the P.T. Barnum Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...
.
World record
The current world record for the farthest human cannonball flight is by David Smith Jr. on March 10, 2011, at Milan in Italy, previously held by his father.The father David "Cannonball" Smith Sr made the previous record of , on August 31, 2002, at The Steele County Free Fair, Owatonna, Minnesota
Owatonna, Minnesota
Owatonna is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair in August....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is estimated Smith Sr. was travelling at over 70 miles per hour (31.3 m/s) during the flight.
Risk
More than 30 human cannonballs have been killed.The latest being in Kent, United Kingdom on April 21, 2011, where a human cannonball plunged to death due to failure of the safety net.
See also
- Frank "Cannonball" Richards
- William Leonard HuntWilliam Leonard HuntWilliam Leonard Hunt , also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well known nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian funambulist, entertainment promoter and inventor, as well as the first known white man to cross the Kalahari Desert on foot and survive.-Early life:Hunt, the second...
- Ildebrando ZacchiniIldebrando ZacchiniIldebrando Zacchini was a painter, inventor, and travelling circus owner. Inspired by the works of Jules Verne, Zacchini came up with an idea for a human cannonball act. Instead of explosives, Zacchini's human-firing cannon used compressed air, and he first tested it on his son Hugo Zacchini...
- Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., 433 U.S. 562 , was an important U.S. Supreme Court case concerning rights of publicity. The Court held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments do not immunize the news media from civil liability when they broadcast a performer's entire act without his...