Photo of the Day

The first parachute jump

Thursday 22 October 2026

Garnerin made the jump on 22 October 1797.

Painting of a man in a basket floating down under a large parachute flying a French flag, the empty balloon drifting off and a crowd running below — Gouache painting · c. 1797

A painting of André-Jacques Garnerin's descent over Paris. He rose under a hydrogen balloon, then cut himself loose and floated down under a cloth parachute, becoming the first person to use a frameless parachute from high altitude.

Fun facts

He cut loose at about 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) above Parc Monceau. source ↗
His parachute had no vent at the top, so it swung violently on the way down. A vent hole at the top, suggested by the astronomer Jérôme Lalande, fixed the problem and is still used. source ↗
His future wife, Jeanne-Geneviève Labrosse, became the first woman to make a parachute jump, in 1799. source ↗
He rode down in a small basket hanging under the canopy, not in a harness. source ↗

Image: Unknown artist · Library of Congress
Licence: Public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons Library of Congress