Talk:Human cannonball

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Last paragraph?[edit]

According to the documentary Human Cannonball by The Discovery Channel, it is estimated that of the 52 humans who have attempted this, 30 have died.

Have there really been only 52 human cannonballs? Even if that's true, I think the paragraph should be removed or rewritten - the way it currently reads, it implies that every attempt carries a greater than 50% chance of death. But most human cannonballs will also have performed the act hundreds of times safely.

Seems likely that a lot of would-be cannonballs would die on their first attempt, or a very early attempt. The risk lies in lack of experience/knowledge. Once they learn to get it right, the risk goes down considerably, and later repetitions are relatively safe.

Two inches?[edit]

I am removing the statement:

A human cannonball will usually lose about two inches from their height whenever they are fired. The loss in height comes from the backbone being compressed.

because it is unclear what they mean. Is this a momentary, maximum amount of compression? -- 64.9.238.124 21:06, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

World Record Distance?[edit]

It seems odd that the distance of the previous record is given, but not the distance of the current record. This article lists the previous record for the farthest human cannonball as 200 feet. According to the Guiness Book Of World Records website, the farthest distance for a human fired from a cannon is 59.05 m (193 ft 8.8 in) by David Marvin Smith Jr (USA) on the set of Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 10 March 2011. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.54.87.185 (talk) 00:25, 25 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why is the current world record shorter than the previous?2.24.51.38 (talk) 00:54, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

the cannon used by a human cannonball[edit]

I think it should have a section of its own, and will write one. Linking to the cannon article is entirely inappropriate, since only the word is common. (There is not a single mention of the cannons human cannonballs use in that article, I checked)

Feel free to improve upon what I am about to add, 90.229.34.175 (talk) 07:09, 9 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

New source[edit]

I found the following source: The Mar 1, 1945 issue of The Milwaukee Journal, where Victoria Zacchini is interviewed, and the workings of the "cannon" built by her father is detailed.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=arUWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2807%2C346834 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.229.34.175 (talk) 08:40, 9 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Straight Dope as source?[edit]

Should The Straight Dope be counted as an acceptable source for this article? The article which is cited has no citations in it and is not a scholarly source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.87.226.184 (talk) 23:30, 31 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]