Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the first ever parachute jump, in honour of Andre-Jacques Garnerin. Andre-Jacques invented the frameless parachute and successfully completed his jump on October 22, 1797 at Parc Monceau, Paris.
Garnerin’s first parachute resembled a closed umbrella before he ascended, with a pole running down its center and a rope running through a tube in the pole, which connected it to the balloon. Garnerin rode in a basket attached to the bottom of the parachute; at a height of approximately 3,000 feet (1,000 m) he severed the rope that connected his parachute to the balloon. The balloon continued skyward while Garnerin, with his basket and parachute, fell. The basket swung violently during descent, then bumped and scraped when it landed, but Garnerin emerged uninjured. The white canvas parachute was umbrella-shaped and approximately 23 feet (7 m) in diameter.
The animated Doodle depicts the event and even lets you steer the parachute left or right with the arrow keys.
Try it..
