The Leonardo da Vinci invention reconstructed and successfully tested by Adrian Nichols in 2000 was a parachute.
Leonardo sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute in the Codex Atlanticus. His design used a rigid frame covered with fabric, creating a broad canopy intended to slow a person’s descent through the air. The concept was based on the idea that trapped air beneath the canopy would provide resistance.
In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols built a version based on Leonardo’s proportions and tested it from a balloon. The test showed that the design could descend successfully, although Nichols opened a modern parachute for safety after separating from the historical one. Modern parachutes use flexible canopies and harness systems rather than Leonardo’s rigid pyramid.
Leonardo’s parachute is often called an early parachute concept, not the first practical parachute. His drawing predates the development of tested, deployable parachutes by several centuries.