Top 10 Bungled Attempts at One-person Flight
The Legend of King Bladud (c. 850 B.C.: Bladud didn't just fail the world's first recorded attempt at flight, he also allegedly discovered the healing springs.
Leonardo da Vinci's Complex Ornithopter (c. 1505: A sketch of Leonardo da Vinci's complex ornithopter.
Giovanni Battista Danti and Paolo Guidotti: Lake Trasimeno in southern Italy, of which Giovanni Battista Danti had a great view before he crashed.
John Williams, Archbishop of York (c. 1589: The massive, eight-towered Conway Castle and its walled garrison town, the latter of which the seven-year-old.
Pierre Desforges (1770-1772: In the background of this painting is the Tour Guinette, from which Desforges dropped in his gondola.
Besnier the Locksmith (1678: Somehow, Besnier the locksmith managed to fly short distances with his design.
The Marquis de Bacqueville (1742: An illustration depicting the Marquis de Bacqueville's attempted flight across the Seine.
João Torto (June 20, 1540, 5 p.m.: Torto demonstrated his flying apparatus for a group of onlookers.
Philippe le Picard's Laborer (c. 16th Century: Because of several accounts detailing the uncertainty of attaching a pair of wings to one's arms.
Al-Djawhari (c. 1000: The first more or less reliable historical account of attempted flight happened around the year A.D. 1000 in Nisabur.