History Of Skydiving - From 1100s To 1960s

Skydiving is not a recent sport, it has not been developed in the twentieth century like many people believe.China started using parachutes in the 1100s and that´s when skydiving began soaring.

According to worldwide skydivers, a French inventor called Andre-Jacques Garnerin was the person who invented skydiving.He jumped from a balloon in Paris 1797, using a parachute.

In the 19th century, Kathie Palus started skydiving in Germany and became known for her skydiving skills and stunts.

In 1903, The Wright brothers invented and made the first aircraft.This took skydiving into a new altitude.It became possible to reach higher altitudes thanks to their invention, and made it possible for skydivers to make more maneuvers and movements while on a free fall.

In 1913, a woman called Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to jump from a plane, and in 1914 she was the first woman to dive a free fall.

In World War 1 missions, jumping of planes started to be a normal military operation and they were continued to be used in World War 2 missions as well, between 1939-45.

Paratroopers, was the name for parachute riding soldiers.They played a key role during the invasions of Normandy, France.Their job was to secure areas for landing of the remaining troops.

There were surplus nylon parachute equipment after the war.The first military sport parachuting clubs was started by The United States Army.

The airborne performances and parachute jumps was popularized by “barnstormers” after the World War I.

Every year barnstormers traveled throughout the United States to perform aerial maneuvers and promote parachute awareness.

Parachute landing was already seen as a sport, as early as after World War I.

In 1930, USSR held the first contest of accurate landing.

In 1951, Yugoslavia organized the first parachuting world championship.This was the start signal of the skydiving sport that we know now.

The sport was called skydiving by the parachute jumpers.They also modified the parachutes used by the military to be easy opened and more maneuverable.

In 1964, a French Canadian kite builder called Domina Jalbert designed the ram-air design.

In 1966, Jalbert patented his parafoil design that led to a modern, multi-celled, rectangular, gliding parafoil.

New and revolutionary designs and materials were constantly tested by skydivers.Currently there are skydiving equipment for two-person and four-person tandem jumping, smoke designs that aim to put firefighters into remote forest fires from low altitude.

Different aerial maneuvers and variations of skydiving are constantly being performed.

In mid 1960s, a man called Gary Partnor was credited for his difficult and awe inspiring skydiving maneuvers called skydive surfing.His aerial acrobatics became more and more difficult year after year.

Skydiving is considered as an extreme sport by some people, because it is so risky in their opinion.Even so, the heart pumping experience and the adrenalin rush is still enjoyed by many people.

History of skydiving is really interesting and it is a good example of what people are willing to do in order to feel free.