The History of the World's Highest Jump 

First I'd like to thank Keeps for sponsoring this video. keeps.com/emplemon I've also included a list of references/links in the description if you'd like to learn more about this topic. I must admit that there will certainly be record-holders I have missed. I tried my best, but information before 1950 is quite spotty and hard to find. There could easily be documentation of other record-holders tucked away in an obscure newspaper or book, and maybe in time we will find them. For now, this is the only comprehensive list of the world's highest jump. Prior to making this video I could not find one that covered before Joe Kittinger. Hope you guys enjoy! Edit: I apologize to my metric viewers for using imperial units, but two-thirds of my audience is from the US, and I felt that including the conversions for so many numbers would make everything a visual mess. For this one you'll have to bare with me and divide by 3.

Joseph Kittinger died this morning on December 9th, 2022. He is a legend who will not be forgotten. May he rest in peace.

Voice Over Lemon: Vsauce Live Action Lemon: That kid on the playground that waits for you to get off the swing

Jospeh Kittinger has passed away. Rest in peace to one of the greatest aeronautical legends ever. Excelsior; Latin To go Higher.

Rest in peace Joe. Truly a revolutionary man in space jumping. His record length will probably never be broken too

For anyone wondering, Joe Kittinger is still alive. He's 92.

This is the weirdest Summoning Salt video i've seen so far

Immediately came to this video after I heard of Joe Kittinger's passing, his career was truly remarkable. Rest in peace Kittinger, you may be gone, but you will not be forgotten.

Alan Eustace is the speed runner that no one knows of, and out of nowhere claims a world record. Everyone doubts him until he shows a new, more efficient, method of ascension.

Jumping was invented by Tsung Jump in 9040 b.c. when he tried to take a step with both feet at the same time

Everyone else: *Uses the height of a building or a mountain to show how tall the jump is* Emplemon: It is comparable to the cruising altitude of the Fortnite Battle Bus

Joe Kittinger's life story is so fucking intense, the dude was basically a real life main character.

19:12 This moment had me smiling ear to ear, incredible storytelling EmpLemon, that reveal along with the beat drop is just too good!

I love how even sky-diving records aren't safe from Google's domination, just imagine if Disney decided to sponsor this...

26:42 I love how he just casually mentions that Vesna Vulovic survived from 33,000 feet without a parachute like its not important

It's hilarious how Eustace just saw Baumgartner like "Hey, that looks fun. I want to try it". And he just did, and boom. Just like that. Old man, first try, no big show, no big promotion.

Imagine training your whole life as an astronaut and have the backing of a large company to beat a 50 year old jump world record and doing it... and then get beat by a middle aged computer nerd from google with no prior experiences 2 years later.

26:35 "Airplane piracy" YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A PLANE WOULD YOU??

A legend of jumping died today. RIP Joe Kittenger 1927-2022

After over 50 years of struggling and death, Felix Baumgartner finally- Alan Eustace: *GG ez*

so what your telling me is, that guy who died in his homemade rocket to try and see the shape of the horizon could have just used a hot air balloon?

I have no idea but this legitimately my second favorite video ever, right behind your Dale Earnhardt video. Please do more videos like this. Maybe one about the record of depth in the ocean?

R.I.P Sir Kittenger😢❤ Forever a jumping Legend!!

Who else legit still taught RedBull guy was still the record holder? Never heard of the google guy till now.

The “EMERGEN” call at 25:04 is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever heard. No jumpscare or spooky noise is more terrifying than that. It tells a cruel story.

Joe Kittiner's words really say something, the fact he was risking his life to test how far can the human body endure through the lines of sky and space really says a lot and just testing the lines they can go to save human lives and not caring setting a world record speaks volumes to me. Rest in peace Joe Kittner and may his words never be forgotten.

This is such a well put together video. You pack so much content into the half hour, and the pacing and editing are absolutely perfect. There are a lot of video essayists/amateur documentarists on here and it’s really easy to put together a mildly informative, slightly poppy product on some popular topic and for it to do really well, so you’re truly a cut above the rest. The music is also really well done. I’m a big fan of you Emp.

I can imagine Kittenger's thoughts during the glove incident. *"My hand is swelling up like the balloon carrying me. Screw it, I'm jumping anyway."* I think they needed a bigger chute because his balls are so big.

a trained skydiver helped by a world record holder: breaks the jump record some computer nerd: hold my beer

Your editing is just amazing, this is definitely one of my favorite videos on RU-vid!

Emp, I would just like to let you know that this video is one of my all-time favourite videos on all of RU-vid. I've rewatched this video so many times. Excellent job my man.

God that smile on Kittenger's face when his record went - wow. Just such pure joy. That's what we all want. To feel happy. Just wonderful

2010: RU-vid Poops 2017: Video Essays About RU-vid 2019: Videos About Things Emp Likes 2020: *J* *U* *M* *P*

2010: "A new RU-vid Poop by EmperorLemon" 2020: 35-minute essay about the fear of jumping My boy has grown up.

30:57 - oh man you missed SUCH a great opportunity! After touch down he fell to his knees and put his fists in the air above his head. It was a tear jerking moment, I thought for sure you'd show it!

What a great video. I love the retro touches you did. And thanks for the history lesson, it was very well done. 👍👍 You have a new subscriber.

John Kittinger is still alive. He's 91 years old.

It kinda surprises me that the whole world knew of and saw Felix baumgartners jump, but I never heard of Alan's record breaker till now. Anyone else miss that too?

I swear we are all just NPC’s in a video game and Joe Kittinger is a player doing the side missions.

I’ve watched this video 4 times now. Every time I’m left in awe of the feats these people performed and your ability as a film maker and story teller. Thank you for sharing with us.

“Highest you’ve ever jumped?” 255 blocks but I mlg water bucketed so I’m good

This documentary made me feel all kinds of emotions - what a rollercoaster

HOME - Resonance One of the most iconic synthwave tracks ever made. Impeccable and exquisite taste; amazing choice.

Second time watching this still just as oddly fascinating, idk why but I love learning about useless knowledge, in terms of day to day life, the way EmpLemon constructs and presents these types of videos is so refreashing and enjoyable. Good job man, i love watching your content pls continue. Well done EmpLemon.

“What a lame idea for a video.” Six minutes later “Okay. I’m hooked.”

Joe Kittinger just recently passed away :(

Wait only 10 million watched the jump? I remember being glued to my laptop in school about to witness history. So cool that Kittinger blessed the project as well. And he's still with us at 94!!

Felix: ha! I have finally been able to secure Joe Kittinger’s blessing after a lot of training, i now have the highest free fall record Some random guy at google: lmao no

Moral of the story: you can’t hold the highest jump record without “er” in your name.

Wow guys, this is some truly incredible production. Style, music and flow all uniquely awesome the whole way through.

Love this video, watched it more than once, please make more

When Matt Turk starts trying to get the highest jump record:

I love how he mentions the finality of great falls and shows Emperor Palpatine falling when the modern star wars movies completely ruined any finality the scene was intended to have.

Falls from height are no joke WHATSOEVER! A few years back I was building a tree fort in our back yard for the children. As I ascended the ladder to make some final adjustments, I heard my wife call out to me that supper was nearly ready. I looked over and realized I could hop off the ladder of the tree fort and land on the patio next to me. This turned out to be a critical mistake. I missed the patio and came crashing through the small work bench I had set up at the base of the ladder below me. The last thing I remember before I blacked out was my wife screaming hysterically about how this same exact thing happened in nineteen ninety eight when The Undertaker threw Mankind off hell in a cell and he plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer's table.

"There's something so absolute about it's outcome." **Shows Palpatine falling into the reactor.

It genuinely feels like an event when EmpLemon uploads a video.

Congratulations on the million man. For the this is the video where you really cranked up the story telling and it has paid off, great job

ur videos are the best to watch when im doing my nails because the length is perfect and the content is always interesting!!

"There is something so absolute about its outcome" *Shows Palpatine in episode 6* Ironic

Emp: uses the emperor falling into the death Star core to signify it's finallty Disney: are you sure about that?

9:58 this intrigued me. What would have happened if he didnt deflate the balloon in time? 2 unconscious bodies floating upward to their death? Would the balloon fail and they fall back to earth before dying? Or, would 2 dead bodies just float in space forever? Or, would 2 dead bodies plummet to earth?

Masterful storytelling and beautiful editing, keep up the good work

This genuinely might be my favorite video of yours so far. Seemed like a lot of fun to make, and was engaging the whole way through. Brilliant.

Aliens: "What're they doing now?" "They're just flying all the way up from their planet and just falling down."

such a good video man, thanks for making it, i loved it

"Once you fall into the bottomless pit, it's game over. There's something so absolute about its outcome" >proceeds to show Gandalf, Palpatine and Mario falling, all of whom came back afterwards

Alan Eustace is the epitome of: Whats your superpower? I'm Rich

Emp has fully undergone a transformation into a really entertaining and informative channel on the likes of Whang, wavywebsurf, and Fredrick Knudsen. But on some accounts, and in my personal opinion, he's better than them all. I love that you finally decided to make videos about whatever the fuck you want regardless of how much exposure you might get from it. I'm aware that this has been going on for a while now with the never ever series but I still think that around this time it finally actually shows that you've fully grown up from your old type of videos and is on looking for greener pastures.

This is one of the best and well put together videos I have seen

I recall reading about the Eustace Jump. At first, he thought he was just floating and would never reach Earth. This was due to the air being so thin that there was no sensation of drag. He was terrified. He also experienced a horrific incident of uncontrolled spin, brief but still terrifying. What a ride! I'm so glad he survived this intact. I can't cite my sources, but they are still out there.

Emplemon has an uncanny gift of talking about something I've never heard of or didnt care about (This, Dale Earnhardt, Hungry Box) and making me feel like an expert once the video finishes

It took me nearly ten minutes to realize this wasn't Summoning Salt.

Presenting real life events within the context of video game rules and restrictions is pretty satisfying. Probably one of my favorite internet tropes.

Big shout out to your excellent music choices, they really make it a funner way of taking in the info. Special shout out for the Gran Turismo menu music. That made me all tingly and nostalgic inside ☺

I never thought I would ever hear the word "airplane piracy" in my life, and for some odd reason, it's cool hearing that

Joe Kittinger's smile warmed my heart. Bless this man's soul.

Hey Emp, Local Orlando man here. I love your videos man I’ve recently binged all your video essays. It’s nice to see a local Florida homie doing well. Much Love.

13:04 Lindgergh was the first person to make a non-stop transatlantic flight SOLO. The first ever transatlantic flight was made by John Alcock and Arthur Brown in 1919

Something tells me this script started out as a 'Never Ever'

I still remember Felix's jump like it was yesterday. I had a regatta the same day with my rowing team when a teammate took out his phone and showed everyone the livestream. As a middle school kid, I wasn't really able to grasp how ambitious the jump was at the time. I ended being far more impressed with the fact that I was in a tent along a river with seemingly no internet access and was witnessing an event happening live thousands of feet up on the other side of the country. Crazy to think we've come as far as we have today where almost anyone can stream live from virtually anywhere and even make a living off of it.

Fantastic content. Thanks for posting!

Still revisit this video after 2 years, honestly one of the best modern media pieces ive watched

“There’s something so absolute about its outcome, to question it would be to question one’s own sanity.” Shows Palpatine falling into a pit and exploding, which he survives.

"Project Man-High" reminds me of that family guy joke where the guy who names military Operations is on vacation so they just call it "Operation Blow up Peter's House" or something

Cute Keeps commercial. Takes me back to the golden days of TV. Thanks 🙏🏼 for the Jump video also.

About 17,500 above sea level was my highest jump- it was supposed to be 15,500 but we had booming lift on the second jump run. I was seeing specks in my vision and they only went away when I did some g-strain -like pressure breathing. If you take a deep breath and and then bear down, you can add about 1.5 psi of pressure in your lungs and the specks go away.

I remember I was really pissed when Emp Lemon stoped making YTPs, gotta say it was probably the best decision he could've made

1:39 “To question it is to question one’s own sanity.”- Emperor Lemon Disney bringing back Palpatine was insanity at its finest.

24:05 Just hearing "We've finally landed" by HOME gave me really hope that he did it. 🥲 Overall this was a very good Record documentary. Summoning Salt would be proud.

I really do not envy the guy who learned that your blood boils if you get too high up.

You got my sub with this one. Keep up the good work.

This is one of the very few channels left on this website that feels like it has the same magic as old RU-vid. Thank you for keeping that alive, EmpLemon.

The highest “so guys we did it” ever done

1:57 - That subtle change from No Depth Perception to No Death Perception, very cheeky

The first 12 seconds were too well done, the clip and music combination got me invested fast.

From edgy memes to documentaries about human achievement, nice channel progression.

"For most of us, that number never exceeds a few feet." It's funny that despite being a paratrooper for years, my record of 15,000ft was done as a civilian. Most of my military jumps were from 600-800ft. 15,000ft sounds scarier but actually it's way safer. At 600ft you don't have any time to correct mistakes or problems.

Just watched this for the 4th time. All of Emp's stuff is just that good. Thanks for the hours of entertainment.

That intro monologue was fucking amazing

You know you're an icon when EmpLemon parodies you.