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A Brief History of Scuba Diving
Humans have been diving since man first collected food from the sea. The need for air and protection under water soon became clear. Let's find out how mankind conquered the oceans in the quest to discover the beauty of the underwater world.
1535 A diving bell was developed by the Italian Guglielmo de Loreno.
1650 German physicist Otto von Guericke developed the first air pump.
1667 Robert Boyle observed decompression sickness or "the bends". After decompression of a snake he noticed gas bubbles in it's eyes. |
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1691 Another diving bell: a weighted barrel, connected with an air pipe to the surface, was patented by Edmund Halley.
1715 John Lethbridge built an underwater cylinder that was supplied via an air pipe from the surface with compressed air. To prevent the water from entering the cylinder, greased leather connections were integrated at the cylinder for the operator's arms.
1776 The first submarine was used for a military attack.
1826 Charles Anthony and John Deane patented a helmet for fire fighters. This helmet was used for diving too. This first version was not fitted to the diving suit. The helmet was attached to the body of the diver with straps and air was supplied from the surface.
1837 Augustus Siebe sealed the diving helmet of the Deane brothers to a watertight diving suit, which became the standard for many dive expeditions.
1843 The Royal Navy established the first diving school.
1865 An underwater breathing apparatus was developed and patented by Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouse. 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 the diver was tethered to the surface by a hose that pumped fresh air into the low-pressure tank. The diver was able to disconnect the tether and to dive with the tank on his back for a few minutes.
1877 The first workable, self-contained diving rig that used compressed oxygen was developed by Henry A. Fleuss.
1893 Louis Boutan invented the first underwater camera.
1908 Detailed studies on the cause and symptoms on decompression sickness were published by John Scott Haldane, Arthur E. Boycott and Guybon C. Damant.
1911 Draeger of Germany introduced an oxygen re-breather.
1912 The U.S. Navy tested decompression tables published by John Scott Haldane, Arthur E. Boycott and Guybon C. Damant.
1917 The Mark V Diving Helmet was introduced by the U.S. Bureau of Construction & Repair. The Mark V Diving Helmet was used for most salvage work during World War II and became the standard U.S. Navy Diving equipment.
1923 W. H. Longley became famous for the first underwater color photos.
1924 The U.S. Navy and Bureau of Mines conducted the first helium-oxygen experimental dives.
1925 A very successful self-contained underwater breathing unit was introduced by Yves Le Prieur.
1930 A bathysphere attached to a barge by a steel cable to the mother ship is used for William Beebe, who descended to 435 metres.
1930 Rubber goggles with glass lenses were developed by Guy Gilpatric. Soon face masks and snorkels were in common use.
1933 Yves Le Prieur developed a demand valve with a high-pressure air tank. In this way the diver became independent from hose connections to the surface.
1933 Swim fins were patented by Louis de Corlieu in France.
1934 Another descent to 924 meter in a bathysphere was undertaken by William Beebe and Otis Barton.
1935 Louis de Corlieu designed a very popular fin for divers.
1941 During World War II, closed circuit scuba equipment was used by Italian divers to place explosives under British naval and merchant marine ships.
1942 Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan redesigned a car regulator that would automatically provide compressed air to a diver on his slightest intake of breath.
1943 The Aqua Lung was born. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan designed and tested the first Aqua-Lung. This device is a fundamental improvement to air supply for divers.
1947 A 94-metre dive record in the Mediterranean Sea was made by Frederic Dumas equipped with an Aqua Lung regulator.
1948 In California Otis Barton descended to a depth of 1372 metres in a modified bathysphere.
1948 The first Aqua Lung regulators were imported to the USA and the diving community quickly adopted this new, convenient device.
1950 A completely self-contained new type of vessel called the bathyscaphe was designed by August Picard and his son Jacques to go deeper than any bathysphere.
1951 The Reserve Valve, later commonly known as "J" valve was developed.
1951 Hans Hass published "Diving as Adventure"
1952 "Silent World" was released by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Frederic Dumas, and James Dugan.
1953 "Underwater Safety" containing important basics on diving safety, was published by E. R. Cross.
1954 The National Cooperation in Aquatics published the "Science of Skin and Scuba Diving" and it becomes the main textbook for diver education.
1954 The television program Kingdom of the Sea starring Zale Parry is aired in the US. That same year Parry broke the depth record by diving to 64 metres near Catalina, CA. Her record attracted many women to scuba diving.
1955 The first formal instructor certification program was created by Al Tillman and Bev Morgan.
1956 At the University of California the first wetsuit is introduced by scientists and the red and white "Divers Down" flag was introduced by Ted Nixon.
1958 Sherwood Manufacturing announces the piston regulator.
1959 YMCA organized the first national scuba diver certification program and the Underwater Society of America was formed.
1960 Jacques Picard and Don Walsh descended to 10921 meter in the bathyscaphe "Trieste".
1960 Al Tillman and Neal Hess create the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI).
1961 The National Association of Skin Diving Schools (NASDS) was founded by John Gaffney.
1962 A number of experiments were conducted whereby people lived in underwater habitats.
1963 In the "Man in the Sea" project Ed Link spends 24 hours at 61 metres.
1966 The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) was founded by John Cronin and Ralph Ericson.
1968 A dive to 133 metres, using compressed air, was carried out by John J. Gruener and R. Neal Watson.
1970 Bob Clark founded Scuba Schools International (SSI).
1971 Scubapro introduces the Stabilization Jacket.
1980 Divers Alert Network (DAN) was founded at Duke University to promote safe diving.
1981 A dive record to 686 metres was made at the Duke Medical Center decompression chamber.
1983 The first commercially available dive computer, the Orca Edge, was introduced.
1985 The wreck of the Titanic was found.
1990 Further improvements and developments are taking place and find their way into the scuba diving sport. The use of mixed gases, like Oxygen and Helium, full face masks, underwater voice communication, propulsion systems, computers, etc. became more common in the 1990s.
1994 Bret Gilliam and Mitch Skaggs formed Technical Diving International (TDI)
1998 Scuba Diving International (SDI) was created.
1999 Chuck Driver and John Bennett descend to 200 metres. The deepest oceanic dive ever completed. The same year Barte Vestor set a challenging 225 metres mark.
2001 John Bennett breaks his own world record with a dive to amazing 308 metres. |
