Felix Baumgartner, Austrian daredevil (born 1969)

Felix Baumgartner was an Austrian skydiver, extreme sportsman, and BASE jumper. He was widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as part of the Red Bull Stratos project. By doing so, he set world records for skydiving an estimated 39 km (24 mi), reaching an estimated top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), or Mach 1.25. He became the first person to break the sound barrier relative to the surface without vehicular power on his descent. He broke skydiving records for exit altitude, vertical freefall distance without a drogue parachute, and vertical speed without a drogue. Although his name is still attached to the two last records, his exit altitude record was broken two years later, when on 24 October 2014, Alan Eustace jumped from 135,890 feet with a drogue.

July 17 is the 198th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 167 days remain until the end of the year.