updated by Daniella 5/1/98

Parachutes are older than you may think. The parachute was first sketched by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495 in Italy. On July 24, 1808, a parachute was first used to save Jodaki Kuparento life. In 1797, AndrŽ Garnerin jumped safely, with a parachute, from a balloon. Parachutes were invented in order to slow falling objects and to save peopleÕs lives. Today, parachutes are used in most army airplanes as a safety feature for the pilots and passengers in case they get shot down. Many people owe their lives to parachutes. As well as being used to save lives, parachutes are used in the sport of skydiving, which has become increasingly popular. Parachutes are not just used to save people, but to slow planes, drag racing cars and space capsules coming back to earth.

Parachutes look very different from the way they did five hundred years ago. The first parachutes were difficult to use and swung violently because there was no way for the trapped air to escape. To make them easier to steer and more safe they put a hole in the top to allow escaping air out and also added a pilot parachute. They were often formed in the shape of a pyramid. Modern parachutes are much different. They come in many more colors and are made of nylon instead of silk. Modern parachutes are stored in backpack you wear on your back. When you pull the ripcord the bag opens and the pilot parachute pops out.

Parachute Poem

Looking out

on the horizon,

all about

are colorful parachutes.

Drifting silently,

quietly sailing,

slowly, swiftly,

in the wind.

Past the clouds,

from above

they look like mounds,

lost in a sea of blue.

Quietly they travel,

like the leaves in the fall,

collapsing on the sand,

with the ocean behind.