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The history of scuba diving
 The
history of scuba diving is very interesting.
Many civilizations throughout time have engaged in breath-hold
diving, also known as free-diving. The evidence of early free-diving
is the finding of sea items found on land and ancient pictures
of divers. These civilizations used free-diving to spearfish
and also in competitions. The Ancient Greeks are known free-divers.
They used free-diving to hunt for sponges and also
in their military.
Some of the early attempts in the history of scuba diving
to dive with the use of air include snorkeling with
hollow reeds, using air-filled bags and diving bells. Diving
bells are watertight chambers on cables. The diving bell is
designed to remain full of air as it is pushed under water,
allowing a few divers to be transported. These methods were
not very efficient, however, and did not nearly resemble scuba
diving as we know it today. The reeds did not allow divers
to go deep into the water and air-filled bags soon filled
with carbon-monoxide as the air was exhaled. Diving bells
did not allow the divers much mobility.
The first diving suits were used in France and England.
They were made of leather and air was pumped into them from
the surface with manual pumps. Once the discovery was made
to use metal to make helmets, these suits were able to stand
greater pressure. With air manually pumped into these helmets,
divers were able to enter deeper into the ocean and the history
of scuba diving was furthered.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that the research
was done to invent modern scuba diving as we know it today.
Paul Bert from France and John Scott Haldane from Scotland,
conducted scientific research on water pressure and our bodies
limits regarding safe compressed air diving. At the same time,
new technologies allowed for the development of air pumps,
scuba regulators
and other equipment. Scuba diving and its history were becoming
more known.
Throughout the 20th century, inventions in scuba equipment
improved. Swim fins, masks and other scuba gear became available.
In the 1950’s the public began to take interest in scuba
diving. Scuba gear shops began to open up and the first wet
suit was introduced. Popular movies about diving and ships,
including Titanic in 1997, continue to interest new divers
and inspire veterans of the history-filled and adventurous
sport of scuba diving.
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