First BASE Jump from Skyscraper

Date: January 18, 1981 • Location: Rome, Italy

Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).

BASE jumping is the activity of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and, after an optional freefall delay, deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsuit BASE jumping.