Page:Henrique Dumont - how a traumatic brain injury contributed to the development of the airplane.pdf/2

 1867, Henrique signed a contract with Joaquim Saldanha Marinho to build a steamboat, which was launched by Emperor Dom Pedro II on the São Francisco River on February 2, 1871. In 1872, Henrique became the engineer on the Central Railroad of Brazil, constructing the Dom Pedro II railway. He moved with his wife and five children to a farm in Cabangu, which today is in Santos Dumont municipality, Minas Gerais. There, Alberto Santos-Dumont was born on July 20, 1873—on Henrique's 41st birthday— the sixth of eight children. After the construction ended, the family moved to Henrique's father-in-law's coffee farm in Rio das Flores, Rio de Janeiro, where Alberto was baptized on February 20, 1877. Due to poor agricultural production, Henrique moved to São Paulo where, in 1879, he bought a coffee farm in São Sebastião do Ribeirão Preto. In 1883, the Mogiana railroad was inaugurated, facilitating the development of the region and the bringing in of immigrants to replace the slave labor force. After successive land acquisitions, in 1887 Henrique formed the largest agricultural farm in Brazil, with 5.7 million coffee plants, and was called the “King of Coffee”. On October 10, 1888, Henrique signed an agreement connecting the Dumont farm to the railway, built around 100 km of track, and imported seven locomotives and 40 wagons from England. Alberto spent his childhood on this farm, being taught by his sister Virginia. In December 1890, during a farm inspection, Henrique fell from a carriage, broke his arm and hit his head, which left him a hemiplegic. He then sold the farm to the Companhia Melhoramentos do Brasil and, on April 6, 1891, he traveled to France looking for more advanced Medicine and a cure, staying at the baths of Lamalou-les-Bains. During this trip, Alberto visited the Industrial Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition, coming into contact with technological innovations such as the cinema, the gramophone and, especially, the gas combustion engine. On November 21, Henrique returned to Brazil, bringing a 3.5-horsepower Peugeot, the first gasoline car in Brazil (Figure 2). At 18 years of age, on February 12, 1892, Alberto was emancipated by his father, and received a small fortune in titles. His father advised: “''I still have a few years to live, I want to see how you conduct yourself: go to Paris, the most dangerous place for a boy, let's see if you become a man; I prefer you not to become a doctor; the future of the world is in mechanics. You do not have to work; I will leave you the necessities to live''”.

With 60-year-old Henrique's health worsening, he tried to return to France but died in Rio de Janeiro on August 30, 1892. This was a severe emotional blow to young Alberto, but following the advice of his father, he moved to Paris in the same year, dedicating himself to his studies and initiating experiments with balloons. These led him to develop, in 1906, the mythical 14-Bis, the first “heavier-than-air” aircraft, in the history of mankind, to fly. Demartini Jr Z et al. Henrique Dumont: TBI and the development of the airplane 61