THE KNOWLEDGE TOOLBOX
A Timeline
The Ancient Art of Scuba Diving
4500 BC-1500 AD | Pre-1500s | 1700s | 1800s
1900-1949 | 1950-1999
4500 BC-1500 AD
There is a great history of diving during this time period. Divers are commissioned in wars
to cut boats free, drill holes in the hulls of ships, remove or place obstacles underwater,
and salvage ships. Divers also catch food and hunt for treasure. The dives are short to
start, but are extended in about 360 BC due to the creation of diving bells that supply
divers with a limited amount of air.
1500-1750
Spanish explorers use native divers to retrieve pearls from oyster beds in the Caribbean
part of the Atlantic Ocean.
1715
Englishman John Lethbridge creates a completely enclosed, one-man diving suit - an airtight,
leather-covered barrel with a glass porthole and airtight sleeves.
1715
An English inventor named Becker demonstrates a full leather diving suit with a large metal,
windowed helmet. Three tubes leading from the helmet to the surface pump out used air and
pump in fresh air using several bellows.
1771
A Frenchman named Ferminet creates a rudimentary brass diving helmet with two eyeholes that
is supplied with air from bellows that first pump it into a reservoir.
1788
American John Smeaton makes several changes to the traditional diving bell. He makes the
bell out of iron and makes a hand-operated pump to control the air supply. Non-return valves
keep the air from being taken back up the hoses.
1825
Englishman William James designs the first scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
The diver wears a helmet and carries a supply of air in a cast-iron belt around the waist.
1828
John and Charles Deane create a system that becomes the first prototype for modern diving
equipment.
1837
German Augustus Siebe, an instrument maker, refines the Deanes’ system into what is considered
the true predecessor to the modern diving gear that’s familiar today.
1839-1842
Diving enters the modern era with salvage operations, introducing the necessity of the buddy
system and the use of underwater explosives.
1864
Frenchmen Benoit Rouquayrot and Auguste Denayrouze develop an improved scuba device. It is
supplied with air pumped from the surface into a closed helmet suit. This diving suit is
later referenced in Jules Verne’s Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
1878
Paul Bert publishes a textbook, La Pression Barometrique, based on his studies of the physical
effects of changes in pressure. He shows that decompression sickness happens when gas bubbles
form in the body and suggests that rising to the surface slowly will prevent this.
1900
The United States accepts a submarine built by John P. Holland into its Navy. Holland is
commonly recognized as the father of the modern submarine.
1907
English physiologist J.S. Haldane creates guidelines for divers to avoid decompression sickness
in the return to the surface.
1918
Ohgushi, from Japan, develops a scuba system with an air-supply cylinder that is carried
on the diver’s back. The diver controls the air supply by clenching down on a valve to
start airflow into the mask.
1926
Yves Le Prieur develops a set of gear in which the diver carries a little bottle of compressed
air that is released into the face mask by opening a valve.
1943
The famous Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, building on Le Prieur’s design, create the
first scuba with an automatic valve that releases air as the diver breathes in. This Aqualung
is the scuba we know today.
1948
The Canadian production of the Aqualung begins under the supervision of Emile Gagnan.
1950
Dick Anderson becomes the first Aqualung instructor at U.S. Divers.
1956
Ted Nixon introduces the American red and white "diver down" flag, used to signal other boats
that a diver is underwater.
1959
The YMCA begins the first nationally structured course for training people in scuba diving.
1962
Experiments are conducted involving people living in underwater habitats supplied with compressed
air from the surface. Jacques Cousteau and his team spend seven days underwater in Diogenes,
their Conshelf One habitat.
1963-1965
Experiments with living in underwater habitats continue with Conshelf Two, Sealab I and II
and Conshelf Three.
1970s
Advances in scuba safety that began in the 1960s become more recognized. A certification
card becomes necessary to rent equipment and refill oxygen tanks.
1979
Marine scientist Sylvia Earle is taken down in a submersible and spends two-and-a-half hours
exploring the depths, walking on the sea floor at a record depth of 1,250 feet.
1980
Dr. Robert Ballard uses fibre-optic technology to send footage in real time from an underwater
craft to a ship on the surface.
1985
Using unmanned submersibles, Dr. Ballard and his team find the sunken R.M.S. Titanic off
the coast of Newfoundland, over 12,000 feet below the surface.
1992
An organization for women scuba divers called the Women’s Scuba Association is created to
provide a network of and for women in the industry.
1993
The Aquarius, an undersea laboratory, begins operating off the coast of Florida. This underwater "apartment" and
lab accommodates six-person teams over 10-day missions. It helps revolutionize the study
of coral reefs.
1999
The Aquarius is upgraded and resumes its underwater missions, including some focusing on
educational experiences for teachers and students.
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