The Daily Feather — The Dangerous Sports Club

Based in Oxford and London, England, members of the Dangerous Sports Club were extreme sports pioneers. Active from the late 1970s for about ten years, they take credit for modern bungee jumping. While no April Fool’s, on April 1, 1979, two members of the Club -- David Kirke and Simon Keeling -- made the first modern bungee jump from the 76-meter Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. The students hatched the hair-raising idea after discussing the land diving ritual of Vanuatu. This ancient rite of passage for young men of Pentecost Island was a true test of courage as land divers intentionally hit the ground. While the vines absorbed a sufficient force to make the impact non-lethal, that was some passage into manhood! By 1982, Kirk and Keeling had outgrown bridge bungee and were hurling themselves from mobile cranes and hot air balloons. On May 5, 2022, another Brit, Curtis Rivers, raised balloon bungee to fresh heights, diving from a hot air balloon at 4,632 meters (or 15,200 ft) over Puertollano, Spain, achieving the highest altitude bungee jump that holds to this day, according to Guinness World Records.

Metaphorically, yesterday’s Conference Board consumer confidence bested Rivers’ leap into the abyss…and it’s still cascading towards earth.