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N0KFQ > TODAY 23.01.14 20:02l 52 Lines 2328 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 10882_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 23
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DB0ANF<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<N4JOA<N9PMO<N0KFQ
Sent: 140123/1800Z 10882@N0KFQ..#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.58
Jan 23, 1957:
Toy company Wham-O produces first Frisbees
On this day in 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out
the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs--now known to
millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees.
The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where
William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students
from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each
other, yelling "Frisbie!" as they let go. In 1948, Walter
Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a
plastic version of the disc called the "Flying Saucer" that could
fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After
splitting with Franscioni, Morrison made an improved model in
1955 and sold it to the new toy company Wham-O as the "Pluto
Platter"--an attempt to cash in on the public craze over space
and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
In 1958, a year after the toy's first release, Wham-O--the
company behind such top-sellers as the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball
and the Water Wiggle--changed its name to the Frisbee disc,
misspelling the name of the historic pie company. A company
designer, Ed Headrick, patented the design for the modern Frisbee
in December 1967, adding a band of raised ridges on the disc's
surface--called the Rings--to stabilize flight. By aggressively
marketing Frisbee-playing as a new sport, Wham-O sold over 100
million units of its famous toy by 1977.
High school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate
Frisbee, a cross between football, soccer and basketball, in
1967. In the 1970s, Headrick himself invented Frisbee Golf, in
which discs are tossed into metal baskets; there are now hundreds
of courses in the U.S., with millions of devotees. There is also
Freestyle Frisbee, with choreographed routines set to music and
multiple discs in play, and various Frisbee competitions for both
humans and dogs--the best natural Frisbee players.
Today, at least 60 manufacturers produce the flying
discs--generally made out of plastic and measuring roughly 20-25
centimeters (8-10 inches) in diameter with a curved lip. The
official Frisbee is owned by Mattel Toy Manufacturers, who bought
the toy from Wham-O in 1994.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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