# Leonardo da Vinci's most famous inventions

Flying machines, tanks, parachutes and automatons: the designs of the genius from Vinci, many of which stayed on the pages of his notebooks. Which one fascinates you most?

- 0 votes · 15 items
- Jun 12, 2026 · joystick80
- https://even.best/en/l/2538/leonardo-da-vinci-s-most-famous-inventions

## Top 15

1. **The ornithopter** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The wing-flapping flying machine, born from studying how birds fly.
2. **The armoured car** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A tortoise-shaped armoured vehicle, the ancestor of the tank.
3. **The parachute** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A pyramid-shaped parachute.
4. **The aerial screw** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The ancestor of the helicopter.
5. **The mechanical knight** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — An automaton that moved its arms, head and jaw.
6. **The giant crossbow** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A huge siege weapon.
7. **The 33-barrelled organ** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Three rows of eleven guns that fired in turn.
8. **The portable bridge** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A bridge that could be put up and taken down to cross rivers.
9. **Canals and locks** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Plans to make rivers navigable and control floods.
10. **The ideal city** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A multi-level city that kept pedestrians and goods apart.
11. **The fortifications** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Walls and bastions designed to withstand cannon fire.
12. **The revolving crane** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — For lifting loads without placing them under the machine.
13. **The theatrical automatons** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Mechanisms to amaze audiences at court festivities.
14. **The timekeeping devices** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Studies of clocks and mechanisms.
15. **The labour-saving machines** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Mechanisms for chopping wood, forging metal and grinding grain.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.