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Full title: The earliest account of successful human flight is of a Chinese prince, who in 559 was forced to jump off a tower, strapped to a large kite. He survived the ordeal after gliding a considerable distance, and was subsequently starved to death in prison.
citation, link, name of prince, anything
The person who originally shared this on Reddit had a link in the comments that ‘op’ didn’t copy over.
That's not flying! That's falling with style!
I told my kids, "jumping from a high place doesn't count. It's only flying if you start from the ground." Did that prevent them jumping off a roof and breaking a limb? Maybe. Or they just weren't stupid. Anyway they survived to adulthood without broken bones.
I'd go further and say you must start from a standing position. Or else I can prove rocks can fly.
Addressed to those murican brothers. Signed: a Brazilian fan of Santos Dumont.
Agreed except:
Waterfowl often take off from a floating position
Bats from a hanging position
Standing on a catapult. Checkmate, aviasts
Doable with a large kite. Proper flight should be controllable
First known hang-glider?
Chinese were creative with their punishments
The way this article rambles repetitively puts me in mind of high school research reports with minimum word counts.
I think Mythbusters tried this.