Edmondo Zacchini (27 March 1894 – 3 October 1981) was a circus entertainer credited with inventing the human cannonball act as one of the Zacchini Brothers.

Early life

Edmondo Zacchini was the oldest son of Ildebrando Zacchini, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

portrait

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

and amateur

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, and brother of

Hugo Zacchini Hugo Zacchini (20 October 1898 – 20 October 1975), one of the Zacchini Brothers, was the first human cannonball to use a compressed-air cannon. His father Ildebrando Zacchini invented the compressed-air cannon used to propel humans in ci ...

. Ildebrando brought his family up in a traveling

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. The family eventually formed their own

, and Edmondo became a gifted

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

, as well as doing acrobatics.

Pagnotta

During

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, when food was hard to come by, Edmondo was walking through town when he was recognized by a townsman. The man had enjoyed the act so much, that he gave Edmondo his pagnotta, a small loaf of bread that was, at the time, rationed by the

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

to one loaf per person. Others came up, and each gave him their bread in appreciation for the act. From then on, when the townspeople saw him, they would say "There goes Pagnotta". Edmondo adopted it as his stage name. With this name, he became the most famous

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in the 1920s.

Human Cannonball

He developed his first human cannonball act in

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in 1922. This cannon was a crude spring-powered contraption that hurled him 20 feet. The result of his first attempt was a broken leg. He re-designed the device in a

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. Later successful versions used

compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...

. Zacchini and his brother Vittorio were invited to the

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in 1930 by a circus promoter. The family, consisting of six brothers and two sisters, eventually settled in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, becoming citizens of the

Death

Zacchini died in a hospital at the age of 87. He is buried in a mausoleum in the Showman's Rest Cemetery,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

External links

This is Pagnotta
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacchini, Edmondo 1894 births 1981 deaths Italian circus performers 20th-century Italian inventors Italian emigrants to the United States