How it came about
Banič witnessed a plane crash in which the pilot was killed. He decided to invent a device that would save airmen's lives. His parachute was strapped to the body and during a fall opened like a large umbrella with a system of cords.
A gift to the army
According to tradition he donated the patent to the US Army, which studied it during the First World War. How exactly it was used is not clearly documented, and modern parachutes also developed along other lines. Banič returned home in 1920 and died in 1941 in Smolenice.
Memorial
Smolenice has a parachute-shaped memorial to Banič. In Slovakia his name is linked with parachuting and aviation. See also Aeroplane.