Nobody really knows exactly who invented the skateboard. Its birth came from imaginative kids and surfers who took the wheels off roller skates and attached them to planks of wood. This rudimental incarnation of the skateboard we know and love today sprung out of California during the 1950s, and since then skateboarding has had its ups and downs. We do know a few details about how skateboarding has changed over the decades, and piecing some of them together is this awesome video:
There have been a few pivotal moments in skateboarding history, people who have set skateboarding on its path to where it has reached today. Here are a few of them:
1972 – The Urethane Wheel
A skater called Frank Nasworthy is responsible for creating the very first urethane wheel for skateboards, made to replace the clay and metal wheels that were the only real options for skateboarders at the time. Creating a much smoother and faster ride, the wheels also provided more grip and control. The Cadillac Wheels Company was formed and skateboarding boomed.
1975 – The Z-Boys
The Zephyr team of skaters blew the minds of skaters and spectators alike at the Del Mar Nationals in California. They skated low and smooth, with big slides and an aggressiveness not seen in skateboarding before. The Z-Boys pioneered pool skating, and guys like Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacey Peralta quickly became skateboarding’s biggest stars.
1978 – The Ollie
Over in Florida a skater called Alex Gelfand was riding the Skateboard USA concrete skatepark, and his inventiveness would create a trick that every skateboarder would have to learn. By kicking the tail of the board and jumping he lifted the nose of the board and scooped it up to keep it below his feet.His nickname was ‘Ollie’, and so the fundamental skateboarding trick the ‘Ollie’ was born.
1984 – The Bones Brigade Video Show
Video tapes were the height of technology at the time, and Stacey Peralta decided to expose skateboarding to the world. He teamed up with some of the best skaters of the times and filmed the Bones Brigade Video Show, paving the way for skaters across the world to film their own movies. Watch it below:
1995 – The X Games
While there had been many skateboard competitions before, the new X Games created by ESPN changed the nature of skateboarding forever. Suddenly skateboarding was veering into the realms of commercial sports. The first event was at Newport, Rhode Island, check out some footage of a young Tony Hawk next:
2004 – Go Skateboarding Day
Skateboarding has proliferated across the world. Many public areas perfect for skating are being effectively outlawed, with ‘No Skateboarding’ signs popping up all over the place, which skateboarders change with a pen stroke or spray paint can to ‘Go Skateboarding’. The first Go Skateboarding Day was held in 2004 on June 21st, and ten years later in 2014, New York City sees the largest gathering of skateboarders the world has ever seen.