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== '''[[Buddhist councils]]''' ==
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A number of '''Buddhist councils''' have been held, or alleged to have been held, over the course of the history of [[Buddhism]]. Some are recognized by particular Buddhist traditions as equivalent to ecumenical councils in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity (that term is not generally used in a Buddhist context); others are acknowledged as local.
==Footnotes==
 
At the present day, Mahayana Buddhism gives little prominence to councils, but they are an important part of the self-concept of Theravada Buddhism. Formerly, different Theravada countries had different lists of councils, but recently the Burmese numbering has generally prevailed.<ref>"Die birmanische Zählung hat sich jedoch neuerdings allgemein durchgesetzt." Heinz Bechert, ''Buddhismus, Staat und Gesellschaft in den Ländern des Theravāda-Buddhismus'', Alfred Metzner, Frankfurt/Berlin, volume 1, 1966, page 105, note 362</ref>
 
===First Council===
 
This council is described in the scriptures. They tell how Kassapa/Kāśyapa (Pali/Sanskrit), apparently the senior surviving disciple of the Buddha, convened it shortly after the Buddha's death (currently dated by most scholars around 400 BC), in order to preserve the teachings. It comprised 500 senior monks (a conventional large number) meeting at Rājagaha/-gṛha (modern name Rajgir). Kassapa questioned Upāli on the monastic discipline and Ānanda on the rest of the teachings (in most versions, but some have him expounding the Abhidharma himself). The council compiled and recited the teachings and ensured their passing on. (It was not customary in ancient India to write down religious teachings; if writing had been introduced in the Buddha's day at all it was used only for mundane matters such as bookkeeping.)
 
Historians reject this account as implausible, though they are not agreed on whether some small gathering of leading disciples took place with such a purpose, or whether the whole story is just a projection of later practice back in time.
 
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Latest revision as of 10:19, 11 September 2020

The Irvin pin. The eyes have always been red, but there are urban legends about the meanings of other colors.
A pin from another company, possibly Switlik or Standard Parachute. This style is common in catalogs and auctions of military memorabilia.

The Caterpillar Club is an informal association of people who have successfully used a parachute to bail out of a disabled aircraft. After authentication by the parachute maker, applicants receive a membership certificate and a distinctive lapel pin.

History

Before April 28, 1919 there was no way for a pilot to jump out of a plane and then to deploy a parachute. Parachutes were stored in a canister attached to the aircraft, and if the plane was spinning, the parachute could not deploy. Film industry stuntman Leslie Irvin developed a parachute that the pilot could deploy at will from a back pack using a ripcord. He joined the Army Air Corps parachute research team, and in April 1919 he successfully tested his design, though he broke his ankle during the test. Irvin was the first person to make a premeditated free fall jump from an airplane. He went on to form the Irving Airchute Company, which became a large supplier of parachutes. (A clerical error resulted in the addition of the "g" to Irvin and this was left in place until 1970, when the company was unified under the title Irvin Industries Incorporated.) The Irvin brand is now a part of Airborne Systems, a company with operations in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.[1].

An early brochure [2] of the Irvin Parachute Company credits William O'Connor 24 August 1920 at McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio as the first person to be saved by an Irvin parachute, but this feat was unrecognised. On 20 October 1922 Lieutenant Harold R. Harris, chief of the McCook Field Flying Station, jumped from a disabled Loening W-2A monoplane fighter. Shortly after, two reporters from the Dayton Herald, realising that there would be more jumps in future, suggested that a club should be formed. 'Caterpillar Club' was suggested because the parachute canopy was made of silk, and because caterpillars have to climb out of their cocoons and fly away. Harris became the first member, and from that time forward any person who jumped from a disabled aircraft with a parachute became a member of the Caterpillar Club. Other famous members include General James Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh and (retired) astronaut John Glenn.

In 1922 Leslie Irvin agreed to give a gold pin to every person whose life was saved by one of his parachutes. By 1945 the number of members with the Irvin pins had grown to over 34,000. In addition to the Irvin Air Chute Company and its successors, other parachute manufacturers have also issued caterpillar pins for successful jumps. Irvin/Irving's successor, Airborne Systems Canada, still provides pins to people who made their jump long ago and are just now applying for membership. Another of these is Switlik Parachute Company, which though it no longer makes parachutes, still issues pins.

Footnotes

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