BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend safely to the ground.
"BASE" is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (referring to radio masts), spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
Participants exit 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.
In contrast to other forms of parachuting, such as skydiving from airplanes, BASE jumps are performed from fixed objects which are generally at much lower altitudes, and BASE jumpers only carry one parachute.
BASE jumping is significantly more hazardous than other forms of parachuting, and is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous extreme sports.
1981Jan, 18
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).
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Events on 1981
- 20Jan
Iran hostage crisis
Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, Iran releases 52 American hostages. - 27Apr
Computer mouse
Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse. - 27Jun
Mao Zedong
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong. - 7Jul
Sandra Day O'Connor
U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. - 15Sep
Sandra Day O'Connor
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States