Born in Denmark, Jacob Ellehammer started his career as a watchmaker, but in 1896 he established his own company where he carried out a wide variety of experiments in all kinds of technical apparatus. These resulted in a large number of inventions, including one of the first beer tap machines and a motorcycle.
 
Jacob studied the flight of birds for years. This allowed him to calculate the horsepower required to fly and to translate these calculations into his own design for a radial engine.
 
Ellehammer continued to experiment, unaware of the Wright brother's first flight in December of 1903, and on September 12 1906 he became the first European to fly an airplane.
 
His feat was accomplished on the tiny island of Lindholm and consisted of a flight of 42 m at an altitude of just 50 cm! Ellehammer then shifted his focus to vertical flight craft and in 1912, he succeeded in making a helicopter rise from the ground in front of witnesses who included the HRH Prince Axel. The tests continued until late in September 1916, when an unfortunate accident occurred after take-off. The machine was left in ruins when the rotors spun into the ground.
 
Luckily, Ellehammer was not deterred and went on to aid the development in Danish aviation until his death in 1946.