Leonardo made this sketch 300 years before the first successful parachute jump, in 1797. Leonardo's parachute was made of airtight canvas in a pyramid shape measuring 23 feet wide by 23 feet high. The skydiver grasped the parachute cords with his hands. Today's parachute is a canopy made of nylon or silk, measuring 24 feet in diameter, which is strapped onto the jumperΓÇÖs back.
