(obsolete) A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet. 1802, William Hutton, The History of the Roman Wall, preface You will also pardon the errors of the Work, for you know I was not bred to letters; but, that the battledore, at an age not exceeding six, was the last book I used at school. (obsolete) A bat or beetle used in washing clothes.
The parachute, like the helicopter and the hang glider, dates back to the drawings of mankind's greatest public genius, Leonardo da Vinci.
Parasailing or Parascending is a recreational activity where a canopy similar to a parachute is towed behind a vehicle lifting the person/persons attached to it into the sky above. Brief History of Parasailing. The first ascending parachute was developed by Pierre-Marcel Lemoigne in 1961. Lemoigne used his invention to set up parachute training centers around Europe where they would tow trainees up to a certain altitude then release them so they may practise parachute landings.