Parachute

Parachute (Fr. chute, 'a fall'), a machine for the purpose of retarding the velocity of descent of any body through the air, and employed by aeronauts as a means of descending from Balloons (q.v.). The original type was a gigantic umbrella, strongly made, and having the outer extremities of the rods, on which the canvas is stretched, firmly connected by ropes or stays to the lower part of the handle. It was recommended in 1783 at Lyons by Le Normand as a means of escape from a house on fire, but was first used in connection with ballooning by Blanchard in 1793. In 1887 Baldwin claimed to have descended from a height of one mile by means of a parachute in 3½ minutes.