Life story
Štefan Banič was born in 1870 in Neštichu, which is today part of Smoleníce. He worked as a laborer and miner. Due to his stance against Magyarization and the Apponyi Laws, he lost his job and in 1907 left for the United States to earn a living — as did many people from his region in those years.
In 1912, he witnessed an aviation accident in America. This experience led him to construct a parachute that opened by means of a spring system on the principle of an umbrella and was fastened directly to the body. In June 1914, he personally tested it before representatives of the patent office — by jumping from the roof of a fifteen-story building in Washington. In August of that year, he received American patent number 1 108 484.
In 1920, he returned to his native village. He lived in seclusion as a master mason and devoted himself to fruit growing; he died in January 1941. A monument was unveiled to him in Smoleníce in 1970 and a new one in 2006; director Peter Hledík made a film about his story in 1987 called Miliónový chlap, and in 2020 a silver ten-euro coin was issued in his honor.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.