In History, we find the Chinese as the first people to conceive the idea of a parachute. They constructed sort of umbrellas, which they used to jump from special towers. Of course, that can't be considered a parachute, but it's like a first attempt.

In the XV century, we find the famous genius of all times, LEONARDO DA VINCI, painter, sculptor, mathematician, scientist, engineer, designer and builder of many devices. He studied birds and flight for several years and got basic conclusions in aeronautics.

The parachute he designed was pyramidal-shaped, as can be appreciated in these drawings included in his notebooks.

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His original idea was to build a device to rescue people from burning buildings. Although we don't know if he tried this parachute, many people consider LEONARDO DA VINCI the "Father of the Parachute".

In 1616 we find another italian, FAUSTO DE VERANZIO, who published a book called "Machinae Nova", in which appeard a diagram titled "Homo Volans", showing a man jumping from a tower, with a square canvas parachute, attached to the jumper's harness with four lines, as can be seen in this picture. This drawing is very similar to the parachutes actually used for sport parachuting.

In 1779, SEBASTIAN LE NORMAND, a french physicist, studied about parachutes throwing animals. Due to his many studies, we can consider him the first sistematic parachute constructor.

It was in 1785 that JEAN PIERRE BLANCHARD, a french balloonist, designed and built the first silk canopy parachute, which could be packed. Before that, parachutes were built with a rigid framework. In 1793, he did an emergency jump from a balloon and broke his legs.

There are a lot of names that appear in many history sources as possibly being the first person to make a parachute jump. But the first of many undisputed exhibition jumps was made from his balloon by ANDRE JACQUES GARNERIN, on October 27th, 1797, in Paris.

His wife, GENEVIEVE LABROSSE, was the first woman to do a parachute jump in 1798. His niece ELISA jumped 40 times between 1815 and 1836.

The first man to use a parachute as a life-saver was JUDAKI KUPARENTO, who in 1808 jumped over Warsaw from his burning balloon.

In 1837 ocurred the first fatal accident in Skydiving History. ROBERTO COCKING jumped from 5,000 feet with a parachute he had designed as an inverted cone.

In 1885 THOMAS BALWING invented the harness.

There are different opinions on who was the first person to jump from an airplane. Some say it was GRANT MORTON. Others, assure it was CAPTAIN ALBERT BERRY, from the U.S. Army, who jumped on March 1st, 1912.

With the first free-fall, a jump made with a delayed opening of the parachute in 1914, began the Sport Parachuting.

However, this sport didn't become popular until the 1950's, when some french jumpers began to practice it just for fun. They experimented with free falls and designed new parachutes, which were easier to steer.

The United States Parachuting Association (USPA) was originally established in 1946 as the National Parachute Jumpers and Riggers Association, to promote jumping as a safe sport. In 1957, it became the Parachute Club of America (PCA), and in 1968, it was renamed the USPA.

The first sport parachuting championship was held in Yugoslavia in 1951.

On August 16th, 1960, CAPTAIN JOSEPH W. KINTTINGER, from the U.S. Air Force, did a high jump from a balloon over New Mexico. The registered height was 102.800 feet, reaching a terminal speed in free-fall of 625,2 mph, almost supersonic speed! His descent lasted about 4.8 minutes. During his free fall he used a stabilizer 6-feet parachute. With this jump he achieved the most dazzling challenge in high jumps. Nowadays, this record is registered in the Guiness Records Book.

Copy Provided by: Patricia Gueneau de Mussy Salas