The birth of skateboarding
The sport and recreational activity of skateboarding was born in the late 1940's and early 1950's when surfers wanted a way to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first skateboard, but several people came up with the same idea at same time. The first skateboards were wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom of the box or board of wood. Eventually the boxes turned into planks and eventually companies started making pressed wood decks or the body of the board. Skateboarding was fun alternative way to go surfing. Skateboarding soon was name, "side walk surfing."
skateboarding in the 1970's
In the early 1970's, a man by the name of Frank Nasworthy started to develop skateboard wheels that were made of polyurethane (a chemical compound made of a chain of organic units joined by organic compound links). Prior to this new material, skateboard wheels were made of metal or clay wheels. The improvement in traction and performance was so immense from the wheel's release date in 1972, that the wheels made the popularity of skateboarding rise rapidly. In 1976 when the California drought dried up all the water from pools, skateboarders started to use the empty pools and vertical walls. This started the "vert" (vertical) trend in skateboarding. Vert skaters could skate faster and perform dangerous tricks such as the slash grind and the frontside/backside. The rise in popularity and development of skateboarding in the 1970's is showcased in the movies "Thrashin" and "Lords of Dogtown."
1990's and present day skateboarding
The current generation of skateboarders is dominated by street skateboarding. Most boards are about 7 1⁄4 to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane. The contemporary shape and size of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle skateboards from the 1980's. Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21.