Kite History - Pioneers:
Throughout various periods of history, individual pioneers have advanced the technology of kite design or employed kites in new ways to further scientific knowledge. In some instances, novel applications of kites have pushed forward our thinking and made possible a greater understanding of science and technology in specific disciplines (e.g meteorology, aeronautics, etc.) .
The list of kiters outlined here by no means constitutes the entire group of kite designers and innovators that are of historical importance. Rather, this list represents those that I credit with some significant or interesting contributions to history and to kiting in general.
- George Pocock - This article originally appeared in KiteLife, the on-line E-zine of kites.
- Benjamin Franklin
- Arthur Batut
- Douglas Archibald
- Major Robert Smythe Baden-Powell
- Woodbridge Davis and H.H. Clayton
- William Abner Eddy Eddy is the 'father' of the diamond kite, the most famous kite shape of all time. This article was originally published in KiteLife E-zine. A revised and updated article is contained here. It is quite lengthy and contains detailed research references.
- William Abner Eddy This is a shorter version of the story of Eddy and his work with the 'Tailless Eddy Diamond Kite". It was originally published in the Journal of the Drachen Foundation Issue 4 - Spring 2000)
- Guglielmo Marconi
- Homan Walsh
- Lawrence Hargrave
- Orville and Wilbur Wright
- Samuel Franklin Cody
- Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, Mable Grosvenor Bell, Casey Baldwin, Glen Curtiss (The Aerial Experiment Association)
- William Allison
- Domina Jalbert
- Francis Rogallo
- Dr. Paul Garber
- Steve Sutton
- Ed Grauel
- The Hadzicki Brothers
- Richard Synergy: Current world altitude record with a single kite (Delta). This entry is very complete and is maintained by the Toronto Kitefliers where Richard is a club member. Another version of this information is found at "New World Record" in the Kitelife.com e-zine. This article was written shortly after the record was established.
- Other pioneers are being researched.
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