Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped device intended to slow a person’s fall is commonly called a parachute.
Leonardo sketched the design in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485. It consisted of a rigid pyramid-shaped frame covered with linen cloth. His notes suggested that a person could jump from a great height while the structure reduced the speed of descent.
The design was not a modern parachute: it lacked the flexible canopy and suspension arrangement used in later equipment. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-scale replica. It descended successfully, although Nicholas used a modern reserve parachute for safety.
Leonardo’s sketch is often described as an early parachute concept, not proof that he invented a practical parachute in the modern sense. The first recorded jump from a parachute is usually associated with André-Jacques Garnerin, who demonstrated one in Paris in 1797.