Throughout history different people have tried to fly by jumping from heights. With some of these tries the person made it. As these experiences were passed on over the years, new and different experiments were tried. With each experiment new things were learned.

Many people have tried to fly by jumping from tall buildings or high mountaintops. The first man to "fly", the Chinese Emperor, Shin jumped from a tower using 2 large hats. He was very happy to land safely. Many, many years passed before the next recorded jump.

For hundred's of years many other people tried flight by jumping. In 852 A.D. Armen Firman jumped from a tower in Spain wearing a huge cloak. He hoped the cloak would billow out and help him float to the ground gently. He was fortunate he made it. For many, many years after others tried to fly by jumping.

Emperor Shin did not fly. He was the first parachutist. But, others learned from his jump. In 1797 a Frenchman, Andre-Jacques Garnerin went up in a hydrogen filled balloon to 650 feet. He then let himself go in a basket tied to a parachute made of white canvas. Finally someone was able to jump, sail down and land safely on earth. This happened 4000 years after Emperor Shin's hat trick.

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Last modified: Mon May 25 18:32:12 PDT 1998