What did Leonardo da Vinci design that is widely described as the world’s first parachute?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a pyramidal parachute, according to a sketch and note in the Codex Atlanticus.

Around 1485, Leonardo proposed a cloth canopy supported by a wooden frame. His design was a rigid pyramid rather than the rounded parachutes used today. He wrote that a person could jump from a height while using the device safely, although he did not record a documented test flight.

The design is often called the first serious parachute concept, but Leonardo was not the first person to imagine controlled descent. Earlier Chinese traditions describe parachute-like devices, and later European inventors developed practical parachutes. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a full-scale replica based on Leonardo’s drawing; it descended successfully, though he used a modern parachute for safety at the end.