(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.
The actual history of skydiving starts with french man Andre-Jacques Garnerin, who made successful parachute descents in 1797 using a canvas canopy and a small basket tied beneath a hot air balloon. The first recorded free fall jump is credited to Leslie Irvin in 1919 and the earliest competitive dives date back to the 1930's. Skydiving became much more mainstream once the military began developing parachute technology and used the act of skydiving as a tactical move during World War II.