# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-rankin
# Generated: 2026-08-13T23:36:04.282Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-rankin"
name: "William Rankin"
slug: "william-rankin"
description: "Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Rankin was the first person to survive a fall from the top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud. He was a pilot in the United States Marine Corps and a World War II and Korean War veteran. In 1959, he was flying an F-8 Crusader jet fighter over a cumulonimbus cloud when the engine failed, and he ejected and parachuted into the cloud. Rankin wrote a book about his experience, The Man Who Rode the Thunder."
tagline: "Survivor of fall through a thunderstorm cloud (1920–2009)"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Writers"
  slug: "writers"
profileType:
  name: "Writer / Author"
  slug: "writer"
birthDate: "1920-10-16"
deathDate: "2009-07-06"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           55.32
  momentum:             10
  historical:           9.748641333333333
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     54.99999999999999
  profileCompleteness:  55
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A8%81%E5%BB%89%C2%B7%E8%97%8D%E6%AC%BD"
    title: "威廉·藍欽"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86_(%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%A8)"
    title: "ويليام رانكين (كاتب)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86"
    title: "ويليام رانكين"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin"
    title: "William Rankin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin"
    title: "William Rankin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin"
    title: "William Rankin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9D_%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%9F_(%D7%98%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A1)"
    title: "ויליאם רנקין (טייס)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%2C_%D0%A3%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BC"
    title: "Рэнкин, Уильям"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%AF%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D"
    title: "பாய்ட் ரன்கின்"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%85_%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%A9%D9%86"
    title: "ولیم رینکن"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q561005"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump