Stefan Banic was born in Nestic, part of Smolenice, in Slovakia. At the age of 37, Banic emigrated to America, where he found work as a coal miner in Pennsylvania.
A tragic accident, that he witnessed in 1912, led Banic to build a prototype of a parachute and then register it with the U.S. Patent Office. On the 3rd June 1914, he demonstrated how his parachute worked in the most daring style, by jumping from a building in Washington. He later went on to jump from an army aircraft.
Banic kindly gave away his patent rights to the U.S. Army. Although the parachute proved to be extremely important during WWI, he received little fame or fortune for his invention.
Andy Warhol | Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav | Master Pavol of Levoca | Jan Bahyl | Rev. Jozef Murgas | Stefan Banic | Wolfgang von Kempelen
Jozef Karol Hell | Jozef Maximilian Petzval | Alexander Dubcek | Andrej Hlinka | Milan Ratislav Stefanik | Ludovit Stur | Matus Cak
Prince Mojmir | Prince Pribina | Anton Bernolak | Cyril and Method | Juraj Janosik | Lubomir Moravcik | Jozo Raz