Sebastien Lenormand is considered to be the first person to make a fully functioning parachute (or at least the first one that was well documented). He jumped from the top of the tower within the Montpellier Observatory in France and safely landed. This parachute was 14 feet. This mechanism was intended to be a portable fire escape, allowing people to escape buring buildings. The jump is recorded to have occured in December of 1783.

Source: Britannica, T. E. (2019, January 01). Louis-Sebastien Lenormand. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Sebastien-Lenormand

Image Scorce: Louis-Sébastien Lenormand. (2019, February 05). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Sébastien_Lenormand