Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute with a pyramid-shaped linen canopy.
Around 1485, Leonardo drew a parachute concept in the Codex Atlanticus. His design used a rigid wooden framework supporting a large cloth canopy. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height without injury if the structure were properly made.
The drawing is an important early parachute concept, but it was not a modern parachute. Leonardo did not record a successful test, and the design’s rigid frame would have made it heavy and difficult to deploy. Modern parachutes use flexible fabric, suspension lines, and a harness.
The idea is sometimes described as the first parachute, although earlier cultures used simpler forms of controlled descent. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas tested a full-size reproduction based on Leonardo’s drawing, demonstrating that the concept could generate lift and slow a descent. The experiment also showed why a modern safety parachute was needed for landing.