Philippe Petit, high-wire walk between the Twin Towers, 1974
Philippe Petit, high-wire walk between the Twin Towers, 1974. During the early morning hours of August 7, 1974, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit took his position at 1,350 feet above ground in the South Tower. High above the streets of New York, Petit began the 131 feet walk between the Twin Towers with no net. At the age of 18, Petit started planning "le coup," what he called the unauthorized performance in the sky. He spent the next six years learning everything he could about the buildings and their construction. He said, "If I see two towers, I have to walk." Petit didn’t just walk, he performed for the crowd that gathered for one hour walking back and forth, laying down, saluting the sky and said hello to the birds. Called the "artistic crime of the century," Petit was arrested but chargers were dropped in exchange of a free kids show in Central Park. The 9/11 Memorial Museum tells the story of Philippe Petit’s walk in the historical exhibition....