The History of Scuba diving – how scuba diving has become to how it is known today
Man has always held the fascination of the underwater world. The wish to spend some time in the depths of the seas and oceans had captured man’s attention. This inspired him to come up with ways and means which will enable him to explore the marine world.
Many inventors were keen to develop equipment assisting underwater exploration. Ideas and equipment developed during the 1500′s leaned towards a diving bell. This equipment was basically a bell-shaped apparatus with the bottom open to the sea. The first diving bells were large and heavy weighted to sink in a vertical position, therefore trapping enough air to allow a diver to breathe.
So let us start with the chronological events on the history of scuba diving.
The first recorded reference to an actual practical diving bell was made in 1531. However, it was within the late 1600′s that great strides were made in this technology. This meant that now divers were able to spend hours underwater.
In 1690, an English astronomer named Edmund Halley developed a diving bell in which replenished air was sent to the divers by sending weighted barrels of air down from the surface.
The next evolution in the history of scuba diving was the deep sea diving suits, which at that time were referred to as the diving dress.
In 1715, an Englishman by the name of John Lethbridge developed what was to be the first diving dress. This was basically a barrel covered in leather equipped with two arm holes with water tight sleeves and a glass porthole enabling the diver to view underwater. This apparatus was lowered from a ship just the same as a diving bell.
Although several designs were used in later years, this gear still had the same limitations as the diving bell because the diver was restricted in his movements.
