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Timeline

A timeline of scuba diving history.

Every date below comes from the sources used across this section. Where sources disagree, both dates are shown, and the source column says who gives which.

This table gathers the dated events from the History pages. Each row names its source; "Wikipedia" means the fact rests on Wikipedia alone. Disputed dates are shown with both versions, and the full story behind each dispute is on the page linked in the section notes below the table. Events the research marked as unconfirmed are left out, except where a row says so.

DateEventSource
30 September 1691Date on the Royal Society's sketch of Edmond Halley's diving bell, reported at its meetings that autumnRoyal Society
1715John Lethbridge builds his underwater "machine"Wikipedia
1823Charles Deane patents a smoke helmetWhitstable Museum
About 1827Charles and John Deane adapt the Siebe-made smoke helmet for diving (the museum dates their helmet work 1825 to 1830)Grace's Guide; Whitstable Museum
1829The Deanes raise copper from the wreck of the Carn Brea CastleWhitstable Museum
1830 or 1837Siebe's closed helmet and dress: 1830 per Grace's Guide, 1837 per the 1873 obituary it quotesGrace's Guide
June 1836John Deane dives on the Mary RoseMary Rose Trust
1840Siebe dress used by Colonel Pasley's Royal Engineers on the wreck of HMS Royal GeorgeGrace's Guide
12 November 1840Mary Rose finds auctioned in PortsmouthMary Rose Trust
April 1860Benoit Rouquayrol patents a self-breathing apparatusBlutime Scuba History
1864French Navy tests the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze apparatusBlutime Scuba History
1867Rouquayrol-Denayrouze system wins a gold medal at the Paris Universal ExpositionBlutime Scuba History
1876 or 1878Henry Fleuss's oxygen rebreather: created 1876 per the History of Diving Museum; patent and first practical apparatus 1878 per Grace's Guide and WikipediaHistory of Diving Museum; Grace's Guide
November 1880Alexander Lambert uses the Fleuss rebreather in the flooded Severn tunnelHistory of Diving Museum
June 1908Boycott, Damant and Haldane publish "Prevention of Compressed Air Illness" in the Journal of Hygiene1909 handbook (search summary)
1910Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus introduced by Siebe GormanWikipedia
1918Ohgushi Peerless Respirator patented in JapanUW360
6 August 1926Fernez-Le Prieur apparatus presented at the Tourelles pool, ParisBlutime; Wikipedia
1933Le Prieur patents his autonomous apparatusBlutime
1935Le Prieur and Jean Painleve found a diving club in ParisBlutime
14 July or 18 August 1935Wookey Hole cave dive by Graham Balcombe and Penelope Powell: 18 August per Divernet, 14 July per a PADI blogDivernet; PADI blog
1937 or December 1942Cousteau and Gagnan begin working together: 1937 per Encyclopedia.com, December 1942 per WikipediaEncyclopedia.com; Wikipedia
1940Lambertsen's LARU Mark I; rebreather patent filed 16 December 1940, issued 2 May 1944Defense Media Network; Wikipedia
About 1940 or April 1942Lambertsen presents his apparatus to the OSS: the NAE tribute implies about 1940, Defense Media Network says April 1942NAE; Defense Media Network
1942 to 1953Hans Hass's team logs more than 2,000 dives on Drager oxygen rebreathersWikipedia
1943Aqua-Lung tested; Cousteau, Tailliez and Dumas make more than 500 Mediterranean dives with itNational Geographic
10 March 1943Application date on US Patent 2,485,039, as shown in a forum reproduction (not checked against the patent office)ScubaBoard
17 October 1943Frederic Dumas's deep test dive, 62 m per Wikipedia (National Geographic describes the depth differently)Wikipedia
21 July 1944OSS swimmers test the harbour defences at Guantanamo Bay undetectedDefense Media Network
1945, 1948 or 1949Cousteau-Gagnan patent granted: 1945 per Wikipedia, 1948 per the Aqualung timeline (search summary), 1949 per one image caption; the US grant date is unconfirmedWikipedia; Aqualung
1945CG45 regulator, named for Cousteau, Gagnan and 1945Wikipedia
1946 (one source 1947)Air Liquide creates La SpirotechniqueWikipedia
1946Cave Diving Group formed in BritainCave Diving Group
1947Men among Sharks premieres in ZurichWikipedia
1948Aqua-Lung trademark licensed to U.S. DiversWikipedia
1949 or 1950Lotte Hass begins diving with Hans Hass's expedition: 1949 per DeeperBlue, 1950 per WikipediaDeeperBlue; Wikipedia
1951The Skin Diver magazine launchedNAUI
1951Hans Hass's Red Sea film wins first prize at VeniceFestival profile; Wikipedia
1952Lambertsen's apparatus described as SCUBA (an NAS paper, a renaming or a patent, depending on the source)NAE; Wikipedia
Early 1952Ted Eldred, of Melbourne, sells the single-hose PorpoiseWikipedia
1953The Silent World, by Cousteau with Dumas, publishedEncyclopedia.com
15 October 1953BSAC founded in LondonBSAC
1954 or 1955Los Angeles County underwater instructor course: 1955 per NAUI and Wikipedia, 1954 per other accountsNAUI; Wikipedia
1955Foxboro Decomputer Mark I released, per DIVE MagazineDIVE Magazine
1955Eugenie Clark founds the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory, SarasotaNOAA
1956The Silent World film wins the Palme d'Or; Academy Award follows in 1957Encyclopedia.com
1957The Science of Skin and Scuba Diving publishedSCUBA Educators International
9 to 11 January 1959CMAS founded in MonacoWikipedia
1959YMCA certifies its first scuba instructors; National Diving Patrol renamed NAUISCUBA Educators International; NAUI
1960NAUI's first major instructor course, HoustonNAUI
1961Maurice Fenzy's adjustable buoyancy life jacketWikipedia
1961Mike Boon passes Sump Six in Swildon's HoleCave Diving Group
1962John Harper and Joe Fuller's 1,000-foot cave penetration at Hornsby SinkNSS Cave Diving Section
1963ScubaPro foundedBlutime
1965Suunto SK-4, which Suunto calls the first diving compassSuunto
1966PADI foundedPADI
1967 to 1968Undersea Medical Society (now UHMS) founded; Wikipedia gives a charter date of 10 April 1967NAE; Wikipedia
1968Penn's Division of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine founded by LambertsenUniversity of Pennsylvania
1968The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau premieresEncyclopedia.com
1970SSI establishedSSI
1970J. Morgan Wells develops the Equivalent Air Depth formulaNAUI
1971 or 1978ScubaPro stabilizing jacket: 1971 per Wikipedia and ScubaPro's timeline, 1978 per other summariesWikipedia; ScubaPro (search summaries)
1973 (Exley chairman from 6 February 1974 per Wikipedia)NSS Cave Diving Section foundedNSS Cave Diving Section
1974Cave-diving deaths peak at 26, by the Section's countNSS Cave Diving Section
1978NOAA Nitrox I approved; tables in the NOAA Diving Manual in 1979X-Ray Magazine; NAUI
1979Sheck Exley's Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival publishedNSS Cave Diving Section
19 September 1979Sylvia Earle's 381 m untethered walk in a JIM suitGuinness World Records
1979 to 1982About 700 XDC-2 and XDC-3 units sold, per DIVE MagazineDIVE Magazine
January 1983 (1984 per Wikipedia)Orca EDGE launchedShearwater blog; Wikipedia
1983 or 1984Hans Hass DecoBrain: 1983 per Wikipedia and Shearwater, 1984 per DIVE MagazineWikipedia; Shearwater; DIVE Magazine
1983Albert Buhlmann's book "Dekompression - Dekompressionskrankheit" published (English edition 1984)Wikipedia
1984Inadequate training and lighting added to Exley's accident causesInDEPTH
1985Dick Rutkowski founds IAND to teach recreational nitroxWikipedia
1986US Recreational Scuba Training Council createdWikipedia
1986 or 1987Suunto SME-ML: 1987 per Suunto, 1986 per DIVE MagazineSuunto; DIVE Magazine
1987Uwatec AladinDIVE Magazine
October 1987Wakulla Springs Project beginsaquaCORPS interview
1988Name "Enriched Air Nitrox" proposed at a NOAA and Harbor Branch workshop; ANDI formedX-Ray Magazine
26 to 28 September 1988AAUS Dive Computer Workshop, CatalinaSmithsonian record (search summary)
January 1990aquaCORPS magazine foundedDivernet (Menduno)
January 1991"Technical diving" first used, in aquaCORPS issue 3Divernet (Menduno)
Autumn 1991DEMA moves to bar nitrox agencies from its showDivernet (Menduno)
January 1992Enriched Air Nitrox Workshop in Houston; the DEMA ban is rescindedDivernet (Menduno)
1992NAUI adopts the NOAA nitrox standards, by its own account the first recreational agency to do soNAUI
1992 (one source 1991)IAND becomes IANTDWikipedia
January 1993Tek.93 technical diving conference, OrlandoDivernet (Menduno)
1994 (1993 per Wikipedia)TDI foundedTDI; Wikipedia
6 April 1994Sheck Exley dies at Zacaton, MexicoWikipedia; Ling eulogy
1995BSAC approves nitrox for membersBSAC
1995 or 1996PADI nitrox training: offered by 1995 per Menduno; full support announced 1996 per WikipediaDivernet; Wikipedia
1 July 1998GUE launchedInDepth (GUE)
1998SDI launchedTDI
1999World Recreational Scuba Training Council founded; Women Divers Hall of Fame foundedWRSTC; Wikipedia
2000First Women Divers Hall of Fame class of 72 inductedWikipedia
2007RAID foundedWikipedia
2008YMCA of the USA announces the end of its scuba programmeSCUBA Educators International
23 March 2024Penelope Powell inducted into the Women Divers Hall of FameDivernet

Where the stories are told

Bells, helmets, Rouquayrol and Denayrouze, Fleuss, Ohgushi and Le Prieur are on before the Aqua-Lung. Cousteau, Gagnan and the patents are on the Aqua-Lung, and the military rebreather and the word itself on Lambertsen and the word SCUBA. The Hass expeditions are on Hans and Lotte Hass.

The clubs, councils and agencies are on how the agencies began. Equipment history is split across the buoyancy jacket and the first dive computers. The nitrox fight is on nitrox comes to recreational diving, the cave groups and Exley on cave and technical diving, and the women pioneers on women in diving.

Sources

  1. Royal Society Picture Library, sketch of Halley's diving bell
  2. Wikipedia, History of scuba diving (secondary)
  3. Whitstable Museum, diving
  4. Grace's Guide, Augustus Siebe
  5. Mary Rose Trust, the 180-year-old Mary Rose souvenirs
  6. Blutime Scuba History, Rouquayrol and Denayrouze
  7. History of Diving Museum, Henry Fleuss
  8. Grace's Guide, Fleuss
  9. Compressed Air Work and Diving (1909 handbook, seen as search summary only)
  10. UW360, Oliver Jarvis on the Ohgushi Peerless Respirator
  11. Blutime Scuba History, Yves Le Prieur
  12. Divernet, first woman cave diver enters hall of fame (1 April 2024)
  13. PADI blog, Gemma Smith, unsung pioneers of diving part 1 (seen as search summary only)
  14. Wikipedia, Christian J. Lambertsen (secondary)
  15. Defense Media Network, the father of American combat swimming
  16. National Academy of Engineering, Memorial Tributes vol. 16, Christian J. Lambertsen
  17. Wikipedia, Hans Hass (secondary)
  18. Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo, Hans Hass
  19. Encyclopedia.com, Jacques Cousteau
  20. National Geographic, the man who taught humans to breathe like fish
  21. ScubaBoard post reproducing US Patent 2,485,039 (forum reproduction)
  22. Aqualung, our story (seen as search summary only)
  23. Wikipedia, Frederic Dumas (secondary)
  24. Wikipedia, Emile Gagnan (secondary)
  25. Wikipedia, Aqua Lung/La Spirotechnique (secondary)
  26. Cave Diving Group, British cave diving history
  27. NAUI, our heritage
  28. BSAC, key milestones
  29. SCUBA Educators International, history
  30. DIVE Magazine, history of the dive computer
  31. NOAA National Ocean Service, Eugenie Clark
  32. Wikipedia, CMAS (secondary)
  33. Wikipedia, Fenzy (secondary)
  34. NSS Cave Diving Section, history
  35. Blutime Scuba History, ScubaPro
  36. Suunto, heritage
  37. PADI, history
  38. University of Pennsylvania, hyperbaric medicine history at Penn
  39. SSI, about SSI
  40. NAUI, in memory of Dr J. Morgan Wells
  41. ScubaPro, about ScubaPro (manufacturer; seen as search summary only)
  42. X-Ray Magazine, nitrox in sport diving: how it all began
  43. Guinness World Records, deepest untethered sea walk (female)
  44. Shearwater, On The Edge
  45. Wikipedia, Albert A. Buhlmann (secondary)
  46. InDEPTH, an analysis of cave diving accidents (30 April 2025)
  47. Wikipedia, IANTD (secondary)
  48. Wikipedia, World Recreational Scuba Training Council (secondary)
  49. aquaCORPS interview with Bill Stone (republished by TDI)
  50. Smithsonian repository, AAUS Dive Computer Workshop proceedings (seen as search summary only)
  51. Divernet, the technical diving revolution part 2
  52. TDI and SDI, our story
  53. Wikipedia, Technical Diving International (secondary)
  54. Wikipedia, Sheck Exley (secondary)
  55. InDepth (GUE), 25th anniversary timeline 1998-2023
  56. WRSTC, mission statement
  57. Wikipedia, Women Divers Hall of Fame (secondary)
  58. Wikipedia, Rebreather Association of International Divers (secondary)
  59. DeeperBlue, famed diver Lotte Hass has died
  60. Wikipedia, Lotte Hass (secondary)
  61. Wikipedia, Yves Le Prieur (secondary)
  62. Closed Worlds, Aqua-Lung
  63. Wikipedia, National Association of Underwater Instructors (secondary)
  64. International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, Albert Tillman (seen as search summary only)
  65. Wikipedia, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (secondary)
  66. Diving Almanac, Dick Rutkowski (seen as search summary only)
  67. Rodger Ling, eulogy for Sheck Exley (hosted by Northwestern University)

Keep reading

Before the Aqua-Lung

Diving bells, the Deane and Siebe helmets, the first demand regulator, Fleuss's rebreather, Japan's 1918 respirator and Le Prieur's 1926 apparatus.

How the agencies began

LA County and the YMCA, BSAC and CMAS, NAUI and PADI, then the nitrox, technical and rebreather agencies, with every disputed date.

The first dive computers

Analogue meters of the 1950s and 1960s, the 1983 Orca EDGE and Hans Hass DecoBrain, Suunto and Uwatec, and the 1988 AAUS workshop.

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