scuba diving - a brief history

Diving has been with us I suppose since humans first began using the ocean as a source of food. For thousands of years it was a case of holding your breath. Today it is called freediving and skin diving. Divers probably began using snorkels made of hollow reeds about 100 A.D. Persian divers around 1300s began using underwater eye-goggles. These were made from polished shells or tortoises. By the 16th century, barrels were being used as primitive diving bells, and for the first time this allowed divers to travel underwater on more than one breath of air.

1535 - The diving bell was developed by Guglielmo de Loreno.

1650 - The first effective air pump was developed by Guericke.

1667 - Robert Boyle observes the decompression sickness or "the bends". After the decompression of a snake Boyle noticed the appearance of small gas bubbles in the eyes of a snake.

1691 - Edmund Halley patented a diving bell. The bell was connected by a pipe to weighted barrels of air that could be replenished from the surface.

1715 - John Lethbridge built an underwater cylinder that was supplied via an air pipe from the surface with compressed air.

1771 - John Smeaton a British engineer invented the air pump.

1772 - Sieur Freminet invented a 'rebreathing' device. This recycled the exhaled air from inside of a barrel. It was the first self-contained air device. The inventor died from lack of oxygen after being in his own device for twenty minutes.

1776 - The first submarine was used for a military attack.

1823 - The "smoke helmet" helmet for fire fighters was patented by Charles Anthony and John Deane. This helmet was also used for diving, it was attached to the body of the diver with straps and air was supplied from the surface.

1825 - William James the English inventor designed a self-contained breather, a cylindrical iron "belt" attached to a copper helmet.

1837- Augustus Siebe sealed the diving helmet of the Deane brothers' to a watertight diving suit. This was to become the standard for many dive expeditions.

1839 - Seibe's diving suit was used during the salvage of the British warship HMS Royal George. The improved suit was later adopted as the standard diving dress by the Royal Engineers.

1843 - The first diving school was established by The Royal Navy.

1865 - Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouse developed and patented an underwater breathing apparatus. A steel tank filled with compressed air was connected to a valve and a mouth-piece. The tank was strapped to the divers back and connected to the surface by a hose that pumped fresh air into the low pressure tank.

1877- Henry A. Fleuss developed the first workable self-contained diving rig. The rig used compressed oxygen.

1878 - Paul Bert publishes "La Pression Barometrique," a book length work containing his physiologic studies of pressure changes.

1893 - Louis Boutan invented the first underwater camera.

1908 - Detailed studies on the cause and symptoms on decompression thickness were published by John Scott Haldane, Arthur E. Boycott and Guybon C. Damant.

1923 - W. H. Longley takes the first underwater color photographs.

1925 - Yves Le Prieur releases a self-contained underwater breathing unit.

1933 - The Bottom Scratchers of San Diego was founded by Ben Stone, Jack Prodanovich, and Glen Orr. The group became the first in an era when diving clubs were vastly popular.

1933 - Louis Ce Corlieu patented the first 'swim fins' in France then later in the United States.

1938 - Guy Gilpatric releases 'the Compleat Goggler'. The book became a very popular inspiration for many skin divers.

1943 - Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan design and test the first Aqua-Lung. The device is an improvement on earlier SCUBA devices and completely changes the sport diving community over the next decade.

1947 - Dumas makes a 94 meter dive record in the Mediterranean Sea equipped with an Aqua Lung regulator.

1948 - Rene's Sporting Goods in Westwood, CA imports the new Aqua-Lungs to the United States. and word began to spread around the diving community.

1949 - Several shops across the U.S. begin selling Aqua-Lungs.

1950 - The International Underwater Spearfishing Association was founded.

1951 - Skin Diver Magazine was formed by Chuck Blakeslee and Jim Auxier.

1951 - The Reserve Valve (later designated "J" valve by U.S. Divers according to its placement in their 1953 catalog) was released.

1951 - Hans Hass publishes 'Diving to Adventure' an inspiration to the underwater world.

1952 - Silent World was released by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frédéric Dumas, and James Dugan. SIt is the story of the invention and underwater adventures of the early Aqua-Lung.

1953 - Popular Science gives directions on how to make your own scuba equipment using surplus military parts.

1953 - E.R. Cross publishes the Underwater Safety.

1954 - Al Tillman and Bev Morgan develop the first public skin and scuba diver education program in the United States.

1954 - The Science of Skin and Scuba Diving is published by the Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics.

1954 - The television program Kingdom of the Sea starring Zale Parry goes on air. Parry becomes a national celebrity, especially within the diving industry.

1955 - Al Tillman and Bev Morgan create the first formal instructor certification program.

1956 - The first wetsuit was introduced by researchers at the University of California.

1956 - Ted Nixon introduces the red and white "Divers Down" flag.

1957 - Al Tillman and Zale Parry organise the first International Underwater Film Festival.

1958 - Sherwood Manufacturing releases the piston regulator.

1959 - The first national diver certification program is developed by The YMCA.

1959 - The Underwater Society of America is formed.

1960 - Al Tillman (Founder of the Los Angeles County Underwater Unit) and Neal Hess (Director of the of the National Diving Patrol for Skin Diver Magazine) create the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI)

1961 - John Gaffney founds the National Association of Skin Diving Schools (NASDS).

1962 - Ed Link goes down 200 feet for a full 24hours in the "Man in the Sea" project.

1963 - Dick Bonin and Gustav dalla Valle found Scubapro.

1966 - John Cronin and Ralph Ericson found the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).

1970 - Bob Clark founds the Scuba Schools International (SSI).

1971 - Scubapro introduces the Stabilization Jacket.

1977 - The first DEMA trade show is held.

1983 - The first commercially available dive computer, the Orca Edge, is introduced.

1985 - The wreck of the Titanic is found.

1994 - Bret Gilliam and Mitch Skaggs form Technical Diving International (TDI)

1998 - Scuba Diving International (SDI) created.

1999 - Chuck Driver and John Bennett descend to 200 meter. The deepest oceanic dive ever completed. The same year Barte Vestor set a challenging 225 meter mark.

2001 - John Bennett breaks his own world record with a dive to 308 meters.

2002 - The FBI issues a nationwide alert that it has received information about a possible terrorist threat from underwater divers.

2002 - "Skin Diver" magazine ends publication.

2003 - John Cronin, co-founder of PADI, died.

2003 - Tanya Streeter, world champion freediver, breaks the men's and women's variable ballast freediving world records. She descends 400 feet (122 meters).

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