Lagari Hasan Çelebi
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Lagari Hasan Çelebi is the subject of a Turkish legend, which alleges that he was the first person to have made an artificially powered flight.
According to Evliya Çelebi, in the 17th century he was launched in the air in a rocket, which was composed of a large cage with a conical top filled with gunpowder. The flight was accomplished as a part of celebrations performed for the birth of Ottoman Emperor Murat IV's daughter in 1633.
He is supposed to have made a soft landing in the Bosporus by using the wings attached to his body after the gunpowder was consumed and was rewarded by the sultan with a valuable military position in the Ottoman army. The flight was estimated to have lasted about twenty seconds and the maximum height reached around 300 metres.
He died in Crimea under the service of Selamet Giray Khan around 1640.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Winter, Frank H. 1992. "Who First Flew in a Rocket?" Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 45 (July 1992): 275-80
- http://www.cssforum.com.pk/compulsory-subjects/everyday-science/5366-timeline-islamic-science-technology.html
- http://www.arikah.com/encyclopedia/List_of_Turks
- Informative USENET posting
