Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute as a rescue device for descending safely from a height.
His design appears in the Codex Atlanticus and consists of a rigid, pyramid-like wooden frame covered with linen cloth. Leonardo estimated that a person could jump from a great height while protected by the canopy. The sketch is usually dated to around 1485.
The design is not the same as a modern parachute: it has a fixed frame rather than a flexible canopy, and Leonardo did not record a completed test. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-scale replica, reporting that it descended successfully before he cut away to use a modern parachute.
Leonardo’s drawing is often described as an early parachute concept, not proof that he invented the practical parachutes used today.