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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Nadeem Badshah

David Kirke, performer of world’s first modern-day bungee jump, dies aged 78

David Kirke interviewed by bridge years later
Kirke’s family described him as ‘a free spirit who went were many feared to tread’. Photograph: ITV News

The man who performed the world’s first ever modern-day bungee jump, while wearing a top hat and tails and holding a bottle of champagne, has died aged 78.

David Kirke, one of the pioneers of the Dangerous Sports Club at Oxford University, jumped off Clifton Suspension Bridge on 1 April 1979.

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