André-Jacques Garnerin

A dramatic composite illustration of three events from 22 October. An eighteenth-century parachutist descends above Paris on the left. In the centre, a black steam locomotive bursts through the wall of Montparnasse station and falls towards the street. On the right, a Soviet space probe descends beneath a parachute towards the orange, rocky surface of Venus. The sky transitions from golden Parisian sunlight to the fiery atmosphere of Venus.

The Gravity of the Situation

Published 2026-10-22

What could possibly connect a pioneering French parachutist, a spectacular railway accident in Paris and a Soviet spacecraft landing on Venus? The answer is gravity — and the remarkable coincidence that all three events happened on 22 October. Our story begins in Paris, travels through one of the most extraordinary accidents in railway history, and […]

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