(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.
Parachutes can be guided by letting some of the air spill out of the front or back of the parachute. There is also a hole in the middle to allow the parachute to fall vertically. Parachutes can be circular, the traditional shape, or rectangular the shape used for some military and stunt use.he first parachute was designed in 1514 by Leonardo da Vinci in Italy, but it was never used. The first man to make and use one was the Frenchman Andre Garnerin who jumped from a balloon over Paris in 1797.