Neatorama's list of inventors who've died in the pursuit of creation is one that I'm sure many core readers could add to. If only Franz had Wayne Enterprises to offer a bit of R&D suppport.
Franz Reichelt was a tailor who was convinced that the next big thing was a coat that doubled as a parachute. So he got busy sewing and developed just that. To test the coat/parachute (coatachute? Paracoat?), Reichelt climbed up to the first deck of the Eiffel Tower. He told authorities that he was going to use a dummy to test the invention, but at the last minute he strapped himself in and jumped to his death in front of a large crowd of spectators.
I was going to link the youtube footage but it's a little disturbing.
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