Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute for controlled descent from height.
Around 1485, Leonardo sketched a pyramid-shaped canopy made from linen, with a square base about 7.2 metres (23.6 feet) wide and tall. He proposed that a person could descend safely while suspended beneath it. The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus.
Leonardo did not build or test the parachute, so it was a theoretical design rather than a demonstrated invention. Its importance comes from the clear aerodynamic idea: a broad canopy increases air resistance and reduces falling speed.
People sometimes confuse this design with Leonardo’s ornithopter or other flying-machine studies. The parachute was intended for descent, not powered flight. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a full-size reconstruction and reported that it was stable, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing.