It was performed by André-Jacques Garnerin who jumped from a hydrogen balloon 3,200 feet above Paris. The parachute was 23 feet in diameter and had a basket at the bottom attached to the parachute by ropes. (It had no hole in the top which meant Garnerin rocked violently about, but he eventually made it to the ground alive.)

Garnerin had developed the parachute himself and there is no earlier recorded instance of a person jumping with a parachute from such a high altitude.

The idea for a parachute was first discussed by Leonardo Da Vinci, it is not known if he ever tried to make one and use it.

Two years later Garnerin's wife became the first female parachutist.

He died in a balloon accident in 1823 when preparing to test a new parachute.