August 7th, 1974

Philippe Petit (French pronunciation: [filip pəti]; born August 13, 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walks. He had already performed walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973. However, his most famous and audacious feat took place on the morning of August 7th, 1974, between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

For this high-wire act, which Petit referred to as "le coup," he gathered a team consisting of his childhood friends from France—Jean-Louis Blondeau and Jean Francois Heckel—along with four Americans: Alan Welner, David Forman, Barry Greenhouse, and Jim Moore. They spent months meticulously planning and preparing, making numerous trips to the World Trade Center to study the buildings, devising ways to bypass security, and figuring out how to transport the necessary materials up 110 stories.

Their planning included building a scale model of the roofs of both towers and practicing their rigging techniques. They had to overcome multiple obstacles, including rescheduling from an earlier date in May of the same year. Despite the challenges, they successfully transported and rigged a 200-kilogram (440-pound) custom-made walking wire, two "cavaletti" guide wires, and an 8-meter (30-foot) long, 25-kilogram (55-pound) balancing pole.

Shortly after 8 a.m., on August 7th, 1974, Petit stepped out onto the wire, 1,350 feet (410 meters) above the ground. He performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes along the wire. During his performance, he walked, danced, lay down on the wire, and even saluted the cheering crowd below. Office workers, construction crews, and policemen all watched in amazement.

The New York Police Department and Port Authority police officers were alerted and rushed to the roofs of both towers to try and persuade Petit to come down. They even threatened to pluck him off the wire with a helicopter. However, feeling that he had "trespassed long enough into these forbidden regions," and noticing the wire becoming dangerous due to rain, Petit finally stepped off the wire and surrendered to the police.

Petit and Heckel were arrested, charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, and forced to submit to psychiatric evaluations. However, the charges were later dismissed on the condition that Petit would perform a free aerial show for children in Central Park. On August 29th, Petit fulfilled this condition by performing a high-wire walk above Belvedere Lake in Central Park.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was so impressed by Petit's feat that they gave him a lifetime pass to the Twin Towers' Observation Deck. Petit's high-wire walk earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest wire crossing without the use of a net or safety tether, 1,350 feet above the ground.

Since then, Petit has lived in New York and has been an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He continued to perform high-wire walks and teach workshops on the art. In 2008, the documentary "Man on Wire," directed by James Marsh, chronicled Petit's 1974 walk and won numerous awards, including the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2015, the film "The Walk," starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and directed by Robert Zemeckis, dramatized Petit's famous walk.

Philippe Petit's incredible feat on August 7th, 1974, remains a testament to human courage, creativity, and determination. His daring walk between the Twin Towers is remembered as one of the most remarkable and inspiring performances in the history of high-wire artistry.