On October 22nd 1797 André-Jacques Garnerin jumped from approximately 2,200 feet from a hot air balloon. This wasn't an attempt at suicide; instead, he was testing his parachute.

Although the parachute had first cropped up several hundred years earlier (despite a bit of a lack of things to jump from) it was only in the 18th century with the rise of hot air ballooning that it started to really show some promise.

Garnerin's parachute was about 23 feet in diameter and was made from folded silk. Garnerin is the inventor of the frameless parachute.

Image: By Edward Hawke Locker [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andr%C3%A9-Jacques_Garnerin_by_Edward_Hawke_Locker_1802.jpg)