The human cannonball act is a performance in which a person who acts as the "cannonball" is ejected from a cylinder that has been specially designed to resemble a cannon. The human cannonball lands on a horizontal net or inflated bag placed at the landing point, as predicted by physics. Outdoor performances may aim at a body of water.
The first "human" cannonball, launched in 1877 at the Royal Aquarium in London, was a 17-year-old girl called "Zazel", whose real name was Rossa Matilda Richter. [1] She was launched by a spring-style cannon invented by the Canadian William Leonard Hunt ("The Great Farini"). She later toured with the P.T. Barnum Circus. Farini's cannon used rubber springs to launch a person from the cannon, limiting the distance they could be launched. Richter's career as a human cannonball ended when she broke her back during an unrelated tightrope act.
In the 1920s, Ildebrando Zacchini invented a cannon that used compressed air to launch a human cannonball. [2] Zacchini shot his son Hugo Zacchini out of the compressed air cannon. Members of the Zacchini family were later inducted into the Ringling Brothers Circus Hall of Fame.
There is a claim that the current world record for the longest human cannonball flight is 193 ft 8.8 in (59.05 m), [3] established by David "The Bullet" Smith Jr. on the set of Lo Show dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on March 10, 2011. The distance was measured from the mouth of the cannon to the farthest point reached on the net. Smith was launched by an 8 m (26' 3") long cannon. It was estimated that he traveled at a speed of 120 km/h (74.6 mph), reaching a maximum altitude of 23 m (75' 6").
There is, however, a contradictory claim that Smith's father, David "Cannonball" Smith Sr., set a record of 200 ft 4 in (61.06 m), [4] on August 31, 2002, at The Steele County Free Fair, in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is estimated that Smith Sr. traveled at over 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) during the flight.
Circus performer Bello Nock performed a human cannonball stunt involving him flying over the main rotor of a helicopter during the ninth episode of the twelfth season of America’s Got Talent.
The impetus in the cannon is provided either by a spring or jet of compressed air. This makes the device work more like a catapult, where the cylinder propelling the human stops at the mouth of the cannon. [5] Some cannons utilize nitrocellulose, specifically the dinitrate ester, cellulose dinitrate (pyroxylin).
In a circus performance, gunpowder may be used to provide visual and auditory effects unrelated to the launching mechanism. Fireworks and smoke may also be used to increase the visual effect.
The largest retailer of these human cannons is located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. This supplier provides approximately 80% of all human cannon catapults.[ citation needed ]
More than 30 human cannonballs have died during the performance of this stunt. Among the latest was that which occurred in Kent, United Kingdom on April 25, 2011, where a human cannonball died as a result of the failure of the safety net. [6] Landing is considered to be the most dangerous aspect of the act. [5]
The human cannonball principle is the subject of a patent application by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, whereby a rail-guided chair driven by compressed air is brought to a sudden stop, propelling the special forces member, police officer or firefighter onto the roof of a tall building. [7] [8]
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored potential energy to propel its payload. Most convert tension or torsion energy that was more slowly and manually built up within the device before release, via springs, bows, twisted rope, elastic, or any of numerous other materials and mechanisms.
A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in warfare and sports.
An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using energy generated via exothermic combustion (deflagration) of chemical propellants, most often black powder or smokeless powder.
Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.
A water gun is a type of toy gun designed to shoot jets of water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a recreational game such as water fight.
In aviation, assisted takeoff is any system for helping aircraft to get into the air. The reason it might be needed is due to the aircraft's weight exceeding the normal maximum takeoff weight, insufficient power, insufficient available runway length, or a combination of all three factors. Assisted takeoff is also required for gliders, which do not have an engine and are unable to take off by themselves.
An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off in a limited distance, typically from the deck of a vessel. They can also be installed on land-based runways, although this is rarely done. They are usually used on aircraft carriers as a form of assisted take off.
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.
A dynamite gun is any of a class of artillery pieces that use compressed air to propel an explosive projectile. Dynamite guns were in use for a brief period from the 1880s to the beginning of the twentieth century.
Edmondo Zacchini was a circus entertainer credited with inventing the human cannonball act as one of the Zacchini Brothers.
Ildebrando Zacchini was a Maltese-born painter, inventor, and travelling circus owner.
Human Cannonball is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
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. He also published under the name Guillermo Antonio Farini.
The Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers were four German Kriegsmarine aircraft carriers planned in the mid-1930s by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder as part of the Plan Z rearmament program after Germany and Great Britain signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. They were planned after a thorough study of Japanese carrier designs. German naval architects ran into difficulties due to lack of experience in building such vessels, the situational realities of carrier operations in the North Sea and the lack of overall clarity in the ships' mission objectives.
Hugo Zacchini, one of the Zacchini Brothers, was the first human cannonball to use a compressed-air cannon. His father Ildebrando Zacchini invented the compressed-air cannon used to propel humans in circus acts. He was known for being a daredevil and a painter.
A steam cannon is a cannon that launches a projectile using only heat and water, or using a ready supply of high-pressure steam from a boiler. The first steam cannon was designed by Archimedes during the Siege of Syracuse. Leonardo da Vinci was also known to have designed one.
Edmondo Zacchini (1894–1981) and Hugo Zacchini (1898–1975) were circus entertainers. They were the sons of Ildebrando Zacchini (1868–1948) and came from a large Italian family residing primarily in Tampa, Florida. While not all human cannonballs, all of papa Zacchini's children were circus performers of one sort or another.
The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in Westminster, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of Westminster Abbey on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in an ornamental style faced with Portland stone. The Aquarium Theatre was located in the west end of the building and was renamed the Imperial Theatre in 1879. Methodist Central Hall now occupies the site.
Rossa Matilda Richter, who used the stage name Zazel, was an English aerialist and actress who became known as the first human cannonball at the age of 17. She began performing at a very young age, practicing aerial stunts like tightrope walking in an old London church. She took up ballet, gymnastics, and trapeze by the time she was 6 and, at 12, went on tour with a travelling acrobat troupe. In 1877, she was the first person to be fired out of a cannon, in front of a large crowd at the Royal Aquarium.
Peru, Indiana native Brian Miser, also known as The Human Fuse, is a self-taught human cannonball. Featured on the 14th season of America's Got Talent. and a Guinness World Record holder, Miser is an American circus performer. Most commonly recognised for his headlining act at Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, during his touring career. Miser has appeared nationally on Conan O'Brien, David Letterman (twice), Huffington Post and CBS radio over the course of his career thus far. His historic Las Vegas stunt closed down the famous strip and catapulted Miser into the spotlight across the United States.
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