Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute with a pyramid-shaped canopy. His 1485 design appears in the Codex Atlanticus and was intended to let a person descend safely from a height.
The design uses a linen canopy supported by wooden poles, forming a rigid pyramid rather than the flexible fabric parachutes used today. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from any great height without injury, provided the structure was sufficiently wide and deep.
Leonardo did not build or test the device, so it was a theoretical invention rather than a working parachute. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nichols constructed a replica and tested it successfully, although he used modern materials for safety. The first recorded parachute jump from a substantial height was made by André-Jacques Garnerin in 1797, more than three centuries after Leonardo's sketch.