LENORMAND, LOUIS-SEBASTIEN

born 1757, France died 1839, France French aeronaut, generally recognized as the first person to make a parachute descent. He was not the inventor of the parachute; the ancient Chinese may have devised one, and it was known to medieval Europe in the form of a toy. Information about Lenormand's life is scanty, but it is believed that he made his first jump from the top of a tree; in December 1783 he mounted the tower of the Montpellier Observatory in France and jumped with a 14-foot (4.3-metre) parachute, landing unharmed. Apparently he thought of the device as a kind of portable fire escape that would enable persons trapped in burning buildings to leap to safety.