Leonardo da Vinci designed a pyramid-shaped parachute in 1485.
His drawing shows a rigid wooden frame covered with linen cloth, forming a structure about 7.2 metres high and 7.2 metres wide. Leonardo suggested that a person could descend safely from a great height with it.
The design was theoretical rather than a documented, tested flight. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nichols built a modern interpretation and tested it successfully, although he used a separate parachute for safety because the wooden structure was difficult to steer.
Leonardo’s parachute is often described as an early parachute concept, not the first practical parachute. Its importance lies in showing that air resistance could be deliberately used to control a fall centuries before modern parachuting developed.