Pierre-Joseph Ravel
1832–1908Pierre-Joseph Ravel and Édouard Ravel built a somersaulting vehicle that toured and crashed in the US, killing its driver.
Particulars
In 1905 Pierre-Joseph Ravel and Édouard Ravel filed a patent for a system by which a vehicle could execute a somersault and built the “vortex of death,” which toured Parisian music halls.
The show was taken to the United States and presented by the Barnum and Bailey circus until the car missed its soft landing and crashed, killing the driver.
Compiled from Wikipedia. Automated record.