Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute around 1485, describing a pyramid-shaped linen canopy supported by wooden poles.
His notes proposed that a person could descend safely from a great height using a structure about 7.2 metres high and 7.2 metres wide. The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus and reflects Leonardo’s interest in air resistance and falling bodies.
Leonardo did not build a working parachute, and his design was created centuries before practical parachuting. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas constructed a full-scale replica and tested it successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing because the replica was difficult to steer.
The design is often called an early parachute concept rather than the first modern parachute. Modern parachutes use flexible fabric, suspension lines and harnesses, unlike Leonardo’s rigid-framed pyramid.