Parc Monceau, Paris 1797 -
It's a bird, It's a plane, no... It's Andre - Jacques Garnerin! The gutsy Frenchman, pictured on this vintage postcard, jumped out of a hot air balloon with a dainty silk parachute. After the hot air balloon had risen to 3,000 ft (900 m) he waved to the crowd and hopped out of the nest-like wicker basket!.
He flew erratically and frighteningly too swiftly. He thankfully landed about a mile off in front of an admiring public. André developed the vented parachute after this particular flying experiment. The vents slowed down descent and made skydiving a bit less dangerous.
The word 'parachute' actually comes from a French word with a Latin root. 'Para' means against in Latin. 'Chute' is the French word for fall. Therefore, parachute actually means 'against the fall'.
I think that I'll bring a few parachutes and G.I. Joe's to Parc Monceau the next time I visit. I'll let them sail through the sky in honour of Monsieur Garnerin whom I'm sure would have also have liked vintage postcards.
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