Captain Albert Berry is one of two people credited as the first person to make a successful parachute jump from a powered airplane. The other person sometimes credited as the first jumper is Grant Morton. Because of poor record keeping at the time, it is impossible to know which claim is the most accurate but most people believe is was Captain Berry and Morton didn't jump until April, 1912. But records at the time show Berry jumped on March 1, 1912 from a Benoist pusher biplane. He initiated the jump from 1,500 feet (457 m) and landed successfully at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri using a 36 foot (11 m) diameter parachute. The parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane and when Berry dropped from the plane his weight pulled the parachute from the canister. Rather than being attached to the parachute by a harness Berry was seated on a trapeze bar. According to Berry he dropped 400 feet (152 m) before the parachute opened.

Grant Morton, the other man sometimes credited with making the first jump is said to have completed his skydive from a Wright Model B flying over Venice Beach, California sometime in late 1911. Morton was 54 at the time of his reported jump.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org