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.. |
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4th
c.
BC
|
 SNORKEL
Aristotle mentioned “instruments
for respiration”. He compared the breathing tubes with elephant trunks
that both humans and animals raised up above the water. |
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320 AD
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SNORKEL
The first hint of a curve
in snorkel design came from China. The curve allowed the diver to look
up and down under the surface in contrast to the straight tube which obliged
the diver to keep his head up and his nose shut. |
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1488/9
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SNORKEL
Leonardo Da Vinci illustrated
improved snorkels. In his Codex “Atlanticus”, he says - “it is made of
leather with many rings so that it can’t close up”.
 MASK
Leonardo DaVinci mentioned
the use of a mask and helmet in his Codex “Atlanticus” – “goggles of frosted
glass and a cuirass with large spikes in front”.
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1680
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 FINS
Borelli designed a pair
of claw-like fins. |
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1865
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The first light under water;
Ernest Bosen, enticed by
the gold bars in Vigo Bay, created an underwater tower weighing 2700 kg
and equipped with an electric bulb. He reached 75 meters in depth and at
that level he turned on the bulb. |
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1930s
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SNORKEL
Only in 1930 did the forerunners
of the true snorkels appear among French spearfishermen.
FINS
Commander de Carlieu improved
the fins. |
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1937
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The American Max Paul successfully
dove in Lake Michigan, breathing a gas mixture which has for its basis
the indifferent gas He (helium). |
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1946
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Cousteau’s
team for underwater exploration reached 120 meters which was considered
to be the maximum depth for compressed-air apparatus. |
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1947
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The Swiss Auguste Piccard
invented the first bathyscaphe and started to accumulate knowledge for
the underwater world. |
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1956
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The Englishman
George Wookie stayed under water for 5 min at a depth of 180 meters but
on his way back to the surface he needed a 12-hour-decompression. |
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1959
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A group of Italians broke
the record from 1946 by reaching 131,5 meters which is the limit for compressed-air
apparatuses. |
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1960
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Jacques
Piccard, the son of Auguste Piccard – the inventor of the bathyscaphe,
and lieutenant Donald Walsh from the US Navy set a world record on January
23, 1960 with the bathyscaphe “Trieste”. They descended to the deepest
known point in the oceans – the Mariana Trench – 10,912 meters (35,800
ft). |
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1964
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Hans Keller and professor
Bulman patented breathing mixtures, used in deep dives. It turned out that
on the bottom the diver breathes a gas mixture that contains mainly He
(helium) and a small percentage of oxygen. Little before the ascent the
diver passes over to breathing another mixture with harder inert gas –
neon. At some level the diver changes his breathing gas with another component
– nitrogen, the hardest of all mentioned. |
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1969/70
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NASA conducted
the experiment “Tektite”;
Divers lived in an underwater
habitat for 60 days at a depth of 15 meters. The NASA specialists recorded
changes in the psychic conditions of the divers – reduced working capacity,
lower self-dignity and mental disorder. They concluded that these changes
were a result of the long social and psychological isolation to which the
divers were exposed while living in the habitat. |
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1970s
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Silicone and plastics began
to take the place of the traditional rubber diving goods. These materials
are lighter in weight and minimize the problem of an allergic reaction
that a number of people have towards rubber. |
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1976
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On November
23, 1976 Jacques Mayol crossed the 100-meter-boundary in depth only with
a snorkel, mask and fins. |
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1999
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On June 5, 1999 the Frenchman
Loic Leferme set a world record in free diving style. He reached 137 meters
only holding his breath! |
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Nowadays
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The maximum
depths in descents with a decompression chamber is 686 meters – 69,9 atm.
It was set in the experiment “Atlantic” where a mixture of He, N and O2
was used. |
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