Dive into the History of Scuba Diving

For centuries, people have been fascinated with the idea of being able to “breathe” underwater. Though humans dipped under the surface thousands of years ago to collect food from the ocean, over time the potential for underwater exploration, military use, and construction became obvious, and people looked for ways to stay under longer and to go deeper. There are records dating back to the 4th Century BC of Aristotle and Alexander the Great creating simple devices that let them take a few breaths under water.

After centuries of rudimentary inventions, prototypes, and improvements, inventors went from basic goggles to diving bells. In 1535, inventor Guglielmo de Lorena created a weighted chamber that was sealed, greased, and had an exhaust valve to release used air and regulate pressure. The chamber was large enough for one person to stand in. In 1691, scientist Edmund Halley patented a diving bell. His initial design, when descended by cables into the water, acted as an air bubble for the person inside the chamber. Using a levy system, smaller chambers with fresh air were brought down and the air was piped into the bigger bell. With time, he advanced to air pipes leading to the surface to replenish fresh air. Though models were improved, it wasn’t until nearly 200 years later that Henry Fluess created the first self-contained breathing unit. The unit was composed of a rubber mask connected to a breathing bad and carbon dioxide was exhaled into one of two tanks on the divers back and absorbed by caustic potash, or potassium hydroxide. Though the device enabled considerable bottom time, depth was limited and the unit posed a high risk of oxygen toxicity to the diver.