For hundreds of years, humans have longed to safely parachute from on high back to earth. The first recorded parachute jump occurred in France in 1783. Louis-Sebastien Lenormand climbed the 14-story tower at the Montpellier Observatory. As a crowd of onlookers watched in awe, he held a 14-foot wide umbrella over his head, leapt out into the air, and parachuted successfully back to earth . His goal? To provide people with an object that could act as a portable fire escape, allowing them to jump from a high building in case of a fire. Think of the courage it took to leap into space with only an umbrella to hold you up! Yikes!
