Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute to soften a person’s fall from a height.
In a late-15th-century notebook, Leonardo described a pyramid-shaped canopy made from linen held open by a wooden framework. He wrote that a person could jump from a great height with the device and land safely, provided the structure was sufficiently large. The design aimed to create air resistance, slowing the descent.
Leonardo’s parachute was a theoretical design, not a documented tested invention. Its rigid frame and large size differ substantially from modern fabric parachutes, which use flexible canopies and suspension lines. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a replica based on Leonardo’s design and reported a successful descent, though he opened a modern parachute for the final landing.
Leonardo’s concept is important because it clearly identified the central principle of parachuting: a broad surface moving through air can oppose gravity and reduce falling speed.