The first parachute jump in history is a bit debatable. While many seem to think that an extreme sport like parachuting has its roots in recent history, it has, in fact, been around for centuries. In 852 A.D., Arman Firman, a Muslim holy man, jumped from a tower in Cordoba, Spain. At the time, he was wearing a billowy, large cloak. While in theory this should have slowed him down and allowed him to float gently to the earth (he also believed this to be true), it did little to help his jump. He crashed to the earth at a frightening speed, but lived to tell the tale of the first parachute jump.
A cloak, however, is not a true parachute. Most give credit to Leonardo Da Vinci for creating the first designs of parachutes. Da Vinci spent years studying birds. He truly believed human flight was possible. He, therefore, spent an extensive amount of time trying to create a vehicle that might help man fly. While Da Vinci never tried any of his ideas, he left behind sketches and instructional texts dealing with the first parachute jump.
Over the course of the next few hundred years, others tried to create the first parachute jump, but none succeeded. All were unrecorded...