View source for Human cannonball

{{short description|Ejection of a human being from a specially designed cannon}}
{{Other uses|Human Cannonball (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Stephanie smith human cannonball - melbourne show 2005.jpg|thumb|Stephanie Smith, human cannonball at the [[Royal Melbourne Show]], 2005]]

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 predicted landing point. Outdoor performances may aim at a body of water.

==History==
[[File:Zazel (tall crop).jpg|thumb|[[Rossa Matilda Richter]] ("Zazel") with her cannon in 1877.]]
[[William Leonard Hunt]], known in the circus world as "The Great Farini", conceived and designed the basic act in the early 1870s, filing a patent for launching a human projectile in 1871.<ref name=SciZone>{{cite web |title=SciZone - Ontario Science Centre: The History of Human Cannonballs |url=http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/scizone/e3/circus/cannon/timeline.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723103727/http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/scizone/e3/circus/cannon/timeline.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 July 2011 |date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Hunt's cannon used rubber springs to launch a person from the cannon, limiting the distance they could be launched. His adopted son, Samuel Wasgate, was the first to perform as the human projectile, dressed in female clothing and billed as "Lulu" in an 1873 act referred to as the "Lulu Leap".<ref name=SciZone/>

The first act billed as a "human cannonball", launched in 1877 at the [[Royal Aquarium]] in [[London]] using the same contraption used for the "Lulu Leap", was the 17-year-old [[Rossa Matilda Richter]], going by the stage name "Zazel". Richter is often erroneously credited with being the first performer of the act.<ref name=huffpo>{{cite web|work=[[Huffington Post]]|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/first-human-cannonball-zazel-london_n_3055039.html|title=Zazel Performed First Human Cannonball On April 10, 1877 In London|date=10 April 2013}}</ref> She later toured with the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus|P.T. Barnum Circus]]. Richter's career as a human cannonball ended when she broke her back during an unrelated [[tightrope]] act.

During [[World War I]], [[Ildebrando Zacchini]] proposed using spring-loaded cannons to shoot Italian soldiers across enemy lines, but the Italian government considered the plan too risky. In Cairo in 1922, Zacchini invented a cannon that used compressed air to launch a human. He first tested his new cannon with his son Bruno Zacchini, and after traveling back to Italy, [[Ringling Brothers]] scouts invited [[Zacchini brothers|the Zacchini family]] to the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QPccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p3sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5725,287006&dq=ildebrando-zacchini&hl=en|title=Trigger man behind human cannonball dies| publisher= Sarasota Herald-Tribune |access-date=August 14, 2012}}</ref> Members of the Zacchini family were later inducted into the Ringling Brothers Circus Hall of Fame.

==Cannon mechanics==
The impetus in the cannon is provided either by a [[spring (device)|spring]] or jet of [[pneumatics|compressed air]]. This makes the device work more like a [[catapult]], where the cylinder propelling the human stops at the mouth of the cannon.<ref name=":0">{{cite web | url=http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_069.html | title=The Straight Dope: How do "human cannonballs" survive? | author = Cecil Adams | publisher=Chicago Reader | date=1991-06-21 | access-date=2007-06-16}}</ref> 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|reason=Who?  Verification?date=September 2018|date=September 2018}}

==World record==
There is a claim that the current world record for the longest human cannonball flight is {{height|ft=193|in=8.8}},<ref>{{cite web | title=www.guinnessworldrecords.com | url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1/human-cannonball-farthest-distance | access-date=July 25, 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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 {{convert|8|m|ftin}} long cannon. It was estimated that he traveled at a speed of {{convert|120|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, reaching a maximum altitude of {{convert|23|m|ftin}}.

There is, however, a contradictory claim that Smith's father, David "Cannonball" Smith Sr., set a record of {{height|ft=200|in=4}},<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Cannonball Show |url=http://www.starattractionswest.com/fairs_cannon.html |access-date=May 9, 2011 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323170901/http://www.starattractionswest.com/fairs_cannon.html |archive-date=March 23, 2012 }}</ref> on August 31, 2002, at [[The Steele County Free Fair]], in [[Owatonna, Minnesota]]. It is estimated that Smith Sr. traveled at over {{convert|70|mph}} during the flight.

[[File:Human cannonball preparing to enter his gun.jpg|thumb|Leo Garcia is about to enter his cannon to be shot out]]<ref>[https://www.z933.com/2023/05/02/chatting-with-an-aerialist-and-the-human-rocket-before-the-carden-circus-comes-to-lax-on-monday/ Chatting with an aerialist and the human rocket before the Carden Circus comes to LAX on Monday]</ref>
[[File:Shooting a man out of a cannon.jpg|thumb|Instant after the performer, Leo Garcia, left his cannon]]

==Risk==
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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-13189254 | work=BBC News | title='Human cannonball' killed in Kent stunt show | date=April 26, 2011}}</ref>  Landing is considered to be the most dangerous aspect of the act.<ref name=":0" />

==Special forces==
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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Barry |title=Invention: Human cannonballs |work=[[New Scientist]]|issn=0262-4079 |date=15 May 2006|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9170-invention-human-cannonballs/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Controllable launcher |url=http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060086349%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060086349&RS=DN/20060086349 |publisher=US Patent and Trademark Office |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128043125/http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060086349%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060086349&RS=DN/20060086349 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Frank "Cannonball" Richards]]
* [[William Leonard Hunt]]
* [[Ildebrando Zacchini]]
* [[Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.]]
* [[Cannonball ride]] – a plot device used for example in the tales about [[Baron Munchausen]] and in the 1911 film ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio (1911 film)|The Adventures of Pinocchio]]''
* 'Human Cannonball' by [[Butthole Surfers]] from the album [[Locust Abortion Technician]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Shane Peacock (writer)|Shane Peacock]]. ''The Great Farini: The High-Wire Life of William Hunt'' (1995), {{ISBN|0-14-024360-7}}.
* Richard Hooper. [https://archive.today/20130905144019/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23901889 Flight of the human cannonballs], ''BBC News Magazine'', [[BBC World Service]], 3 September 2013 (with photos).
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}

* [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/360161/the_human_cannonball/ The Human Cannonball in Action (video)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122092150/http://www.metacafe.com/watch/360161/the_human_cannonball/ |date=2007-01-22 }}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4103210.stm BBC News article on being a human cannonball]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_2535000/2535601.stm BBC News article on a female human cannonball]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_069.html The Straight Dope page about human cannonballs]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZBoHdKUS6w Human Cannonball (song by Loudon Wainwright III)]

{{Circus skills}}

[[Category:Circus skills]]
[[Category:Shooting sports]]