History of Scuba Diving

The word Scuba is actually an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Scuba diving is a kind of underwater diving that requires scuba sets to breathe under water. It may be done for recreation, industrial or commercial purposes. Scuba divers carry their own breathing gas in tanks.

Diving has been around from a long time. Many civilizations have been engaged in diving, for example, ancient Greeks were known to be great divers. But the history of scuba diving dates back to 1535 when Guglielmo de Loreno invented a diving bell. It was just like putting a bucket over someone’s head but Loreno soon realized that the bell wouldn’t work as the oxygen present diminished fast. Even before Loreno, Leonardo da Vinci had designed a underwater apparatus but, it just remained on paper. It was in later years that many took ideas from his design to design their apparatus. Here’s a peek into the history of Scuba diving from Loreno to John Bennett.

Timeline of Scuba Diving

1535: Guglielmo de Loreno develops a diving bell.
1650: Guericke develops the first air pump.
1691: A diving bell, a weighted barrels, connected with an air pipe to the surface, is patented by Edmund Halley.
1715: Underwater cylinder which is supplied through an air pipe from the surface with compressed air, is invented by John Lethbridge.
1776: First submarine is used for military attack.
1843: The Royal Navy establishes the 1st diving school.
1865: An underwater breathing apparatus in patented by Benoit Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouse. A steel tank filled with compressed air is strapped to the divers back and diver is attached to a hose that pumps fresh air continuously.
1877: The first workable self contained diving rig using compressed oxygen is developed by Henry Fleuss.
1911: Dragger of Germany introduces an oxygen re-breather.
1924: World’s first helium-oxygen experimental dives are conducted by the US Navy.
1925: Successful self contained underwater breathing suit is introduced by Yves Le Prieur.
1933: Yves Le Prieur develops a demand valve with a high pressure tank, making diver independent from hose connections. The same swim fins were patented by Louside Corlieu in France.
1943: Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan make Aqua Lung, a device that improves air supply for divers.
1951: Haas published "Diving as Adventure" and many such publications followed.
1955: The first formal instructor certification program is created by Al Tilman and Bev Morgan.
1960: Al Tilman and Neal Hess establish National Association of Underwater Instructor (NAUI), the first such association, many more followed suit.
1962: Experiments in which people lived in underwater habitat are conducted.
1971: Scurbapro develops Stabilization Jacket.
1983: Orca Edge, the first commercially available dive computer is introduced.
1985: Titanic wreck is found.
1990: More improvements and developments take place, making Scuba diving a sport.
1999: Chuck Driver and John Bennet descend to 200 meters, the deepest oceanic dive ever.
2001: John Bennet breaks his own world record with a dive to 308 meters.

The invention of swim fins, dive computers, masks and other latest gears have made Scuba diving an interesting adventurous sport. There are tourist places around the world which have their main income from scuba diving tourists. The developments are still on, and there’s hope that scuba diving will get cheaper.