Lyn Angene, Age 12, Of Euclid, Ohio, for his question:

Who invented the parachute?

A Frenchman named Blanchard claimed to be the first person to make a parachute landing in America. This event took place on Jan. 9, 1793, and Blanchard broke his leg when he struck the ground. Six years before he had dropped a dog in a basket rigged with a parachute. This dog may have made the world's first successful parachute jump

But the idea of the parachute dates way back to Leonardo Da Vinci, the Italian artist and mechanical genius who lived from 1452 to 1519. Leonardo invented the parachute, but so far as we know he never made a parachute jump. The idea may have come from a jellyfish called the sea nettle. This modest creature is built like a spreading umbrella and uses his natural parachute to float through the water.