Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute for a controlled descent from a height.
Around 1485, Leonardo recorded the design in the Codex Atlanticus. His drawing shows a rigid-looking pyramidal frame covered with linen cloth, with the user suspended beneath it. He calculated that the structure would provide enough drag to slow a fall.
The design was not a practical modern parachute. Leonardo did not record a documented test, and the pyramid would have been heavy and awkward compared with later fabric canopies. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols built and tested a replica based on the sketch; it descended successfully, although he used a modern backup parachute for safety.
People sometimes call Leonardo the inventor of the parachute, but parachutes developed through later experiments. His importance lies in making one of the earliest detailed European designs for a human-carrying descent device. His proposal also shows how he applied geometry and observation to an engineering problem.