If your friend said “I want to build a big chair and strap rockets to it - FOR SCIENCE,” you’d probably tell them no. When Wan Hu suggested this during the Ming Dynasty in China, his mates said “yeah sure, let’s go get some rockets.” Or something like that.

Now, it’s tempting to think that Wan Hu might have had a death wish here but this stargazer was actually attempting to launch himself into space and reach the moon. In order to do so, he built a large metal chair with two kites attached (for steering) and had 47 rockets strapped to the back. Yes, specifically 47 rockets.

Wan Hu sat in his chair and ordered his servants to light the rockets. They did and a loud bang followed along with a lot of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Wan Hu was gone. To the moon? Probably not. To oblivion? Most definitely.

While this story seems wild, the ideas and the theory are all there for actually travelling to the moon. Wan Hu might have died in a horrible experiment gone wrong. Or, he might actually have been the first ever astronaut.