A short history of SURFING

2000 BC It’s widely accepted that different populations have been surfing along the Pacific coast for 4,000 or so years

1000 AD The modern history of the pastime begins in Hawaii — a perfect locale, thanks to ultra-productive taro fields and fishponds that offer the people a hearty diet and leisure time to take advantage of the region’s attributes.

1769: The first written description of surfing is noted by botanist Joseph Banks, a crew member on Captain Cook’s first voyage to the South Pacific. “We stood admiring this very won- derful scene for full half an hour, in which time no one of the actors attempted to come ashore but all seemed most highly entertained with their strange diversion,” he wrote, referring to the locals in Tahiti riding waves on canoe-like devices.

1821: Calvinist missionaries flood from Britain to Hawaii, banning surfing, deeming it “against the

laws of God.” A near-fatal blow to the sport.

1906: The first surf video was captured on Waikiki Beach by a Thomas Edison cameraman.

1907: Waikiki-- born George Freeth, a.k.a. the “Hawaiian wonder” brings surfing to the American mainland, becoming the first professional surfer in history.

1914: Another Waikiki Beach boy, Duke Kahanamoku, introduced Australians to surfing at Sydney’s Freshwater Beach exhibition. A fivetime Olympic medal winner in swimming, Kahanamoku was also the first celebrity surfer.

1920: Edward, Prince of Wales, takes a surf vacation to Hawaii where he’s photographed riding a wave.

1926: Tom Blake

of Milwaukee revolutionizes the sport by developing the first board weighing less than 100 pounds.

1930: The first mass-produced surfboards are made called the Swastika. Ads for the boards, which donned the emblem, declared, “Enjoy the thrill of a Swastika.”

1945: By the end of the Second World War Swastika boards lost popularity and Malibu had claimed the title of surfing capital of the world from Waikiki. The long, sloping waves at “The Point” became the epitome of good surf.

1951: Hugh Bradner, an MIT physicist, develops the world’s first neoprene wetsuit.

1954: Ethel Kukea becomes the first female champion surfer, winning the Makaha International women’s division in Hawaii.

1957: “Gidget” by Frederick Kohner is published, based on his teenage daughter, a surfer, and “the beach generation.” Hollywood creates a film by the same, the first of a long list of beach flicks that poured out of Hollywood in the ’60s.

1961: Dick Dale of Boston, Mass. unleashes surf music on America. That same year, the Beach Boys form, emulating Dale’s style.

1964: International Surf Association is created, and becomes recognized by the Olympics as the world governing authority for surfing.

1969: Steve Russ invents the divisive surf leash in Santa Cruz, California.

Some say it will make for lazy surfers while others are grateful for fewer lost boards.

1982: The Association of Professional Surfers (ASP) becomes the predominant governing pro surf organization.

1984: By now the international surf tour circuit has expanded to nearly 60 pro events worldwide.

2011: Garrett McNamara surfs what’s considered the biggest wave of all time, in Nazaré, Portugal — it’s 90 feet.