skydiving is the thrilling activity of jumping out of an airplane or other aircraft and deploying a parachute to land safely. depending on the reason for the jump, there may or may not be a set time of freefall before the chute is deployed.

although there are reports of skydiving dating back several thousand years to china, these have not been substantiated, because no actual parachute was invented or used at this time. chinese documentation states that umbrellas were used to slow a person's decent.