A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong fabric, originally silk, now most commonly nylon. They are typically dome-shaped, but vary, with rectangles, inverted domes, and others found.

Who first used a parachute?

The parachute was reinvented in 1783 by Frenchman Sebastien Lenormand, the man who coined the word 'parachute' while demonstrating the device's principle. Compatriot Jean Pierre Blanchard was probably the first person to use a parachute in an emergency, escaping from a ruptured hot-air balloon by using one in 1793.

Who invented the first free fall parachute?

The first parachute jump in history was made by André-Jacques Garnerin, the inventor of the parachute, on 22 October 1797. Garnerin tested his contraption by leaping from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet (980 m) above Paris.