mixed metaphors

1879 First closed-circuit oxygen rebreather (Fleuss mask/Siebe Gorman)

1878 Barometric Pressure discussing oxygen toxicity, hypoxia and decompression sickness published by Dr. Paul Bert

1908 Development of the first staged decompression techniques/tables (Haldane)

1919 Patent for oxygen-helium breathing mixtures (Cooke)

1925 US Bureau Of Mines experiments with helium decompressions (Hidebrand, Sayers, Yant)

1926 First self-contained open-circuit scuba system (Fernez-Le Prieur)

1928 British air with oxygen decompression tables to 320 f/98 m (Davis, Damant)

1935 Nitrogen narcosis attributed to elevated nitrogen partial pressures (Behnke)

1937 First successful heliox dive (End, Nohl)

1939 USN Heliox Tables published (Behnke)

Successful rescue and salvage of USS Squalus (240 f/74 m)

1943 Development of the Gagnan-Cousteau "aqualung" demand valve regulator

1943 Enriched air nitrox first proposed as a diving gas to reduce decompression problems (Lambertson)

1953 USN Air Tables first published

1957 Development of saturation diving techniques: The Genesis Project (Bond)

1959 Nitrox diving methods first published in USN diving manual

1962 First commercial heliox dive to 420 f/129 m (Wilson)

First saturation dive to 200 f/61 m (Link)

Hans Keller successfully demonstrates gas sequencing techniques on a 1,000-f/307-m bounce dive

1965 First commercial saturation dive to 250 f/77 m using the Westinghouse Cachalot System

1967 Hal Watts dives to 390 f/120 m on air, setting a new world deep air record

1968 Walter Stark launches the "Electro-Lung," the first electronic closed-circuit system

Neal Watson sets new deep air record of 437 f/134 m and is published in the Guinness Book of World Records

1970 First recorded incident of High Pressure Nervous Syndrome (HPNS)

NOAA launches its enriched air nitrox program

1977 First (unsuccessful) open-circuit mix dive in the sport diving community (Smith and Holtzendorff at Wakulla Springs), resulting in a fatality (Holtzendorff drowned after convulsion following O2 breathing)

1979 NOAA nitrox diving methods published in NOAA Diving Manual 2nd Ed

1980 First successful open-circuit mix sport dives at Diepolder II to 360 f/110 m (D. Sweet)

1981 Jerry Buchanon, Bob Horton, and Joe Schneeweiss conduct a series of open-circuit heliox dives on the Guinilda (240 f/74 m), Lake Superior, MI

1982 ORCA Industries launches the first consumer dive computer, the EDGE

1986 International Association of Nitrox Divers (IAND) formed by Dick Rutkowski to provide nitrox training to sport divers

1987 Jochen Hassenmeyer conducts open-circuit mix dive to 656 f/201 m

Hal Watts forms the Professional Scuba Association (PSA) to offer deep diving training

Andros project: Rob Palmer and others conduct exploration of the Andros Blue Holes using open-circuit heliox and closed-circuit systems provided by Stuart Clough, Carmellan Systems

Wakulla Springs Project: Bill Stone and team successfully complete over thirty-five 300 f/93 m-plus dives at Wakulla Springs using heliox and Hamilton Research tables. Test dives the planet's first fully redundant rebreather, the Cis-Lunar Mk-1.

1988 Sheck Exley conducts his record open-circuit trimix dive to 780 f/239 m at Naciememto Del Rio Monte using trimix and a series of nitrox mixtures for decompression

1989 Parker Turner, Bill Gavin and Bill Main successfully complete the Sullivan Connection (240 f/ 74 m) using trimix/nitrox mixes

1990 aquaCORPS publishes its first issue, aJ 1/underpressure (90JAN)

Ed Betts forms the American Nitrox Divers Inc. (ANDI) to offer enriched air, dubbed "SafeAir" training

Former Ocean Quest promoter Bret Gilliam dives to 452 f/138 m on air, surpassing Watson's 1968 record by 15 f/5 m

1991 aquaCORPS coins the term "technical diving" to describe the emerging new field of sport diving

Key West Diver founder Billy Deans offers the first open-circuit helium training program, and establishes the first technical diving training facility in the US

Tom Mount joins IAND as president, changes the name to the International Assoc. of Nitrox & Technical Divers (IANTD) and proceeds to develop and launch a full schedule of technical diving courses with wife Patty

PADI is the first major recreational agency to officially recognize technical diving in "Technical Diving: Does PADI Have Its Head In The Sand?" by Drew Richardson, published in Undersea Journal Q4, 1991

A DEMA committee bans nitrox training providers from the Houston show. They later lift the ban after meeting with ANDI and IANTD representatives.

Skin Diver editor Bill Gleason says nitrox users "have the right" in an editorial

1992 In response to the ban by DEMA, aquaCORPS organizes the Enriched Air Nitrox Workshop in conjunction with the Scuba Diving Resources Group. The Enriched Air Workshop is held just prior to DEMA , coinciding with the publication of 4/MIX issue. Workshop report [TechnicalDIVER 3.1/JUN92] published and distributed to industry members.

UK’s Sport Diver publishes a factual series on nitrox diving by Keith Morris, which dispels many of the myths that abound

Kevin Gurr, Richard Bull, and Rob Palmer form the European Association of Technical Divers (EATD) and offer the first nitrox courses in the UK

In an article in DIVER magazine, the BSAC prohibits its members from using any breathing gas other than air

NAUI endorses EAN and announces it will accept certifications from ANDI and IANTD

As a result of a NOAA contract, ORCA introduces the first nitrox computer that runs on a single EAN 32 mix

First organized open water mix expedition on the Andrea Doria (250 f/77 m) led by US East Coast wrecker Bernie Chowdhury

US East Coast wrecker Ken Clayton conducts a series of dives on the Frankfurt using neox (an oxygen-neon mix)

1993 aquaCORPS launches the 93 tek.Conference to bring together the technical diving community. ANDI and IANTD agree on an air quality standard for gas blending after a lengthy forum debate at the conference.

ANDI launches its nitrox training program in the UK

The UK's Sub Aqua Association (SAA) endorses enriched air nitrox and accepts certifications from IANTD program

BSAC issues its report on enriched air nitrox stating that the use of nitrox is not yet appropriate for sport divers

EATD merges into the IANTD and launches its first UK conference and nitrox is the hot topic of discussion

Ann Kristovich dives to 554 ffw/165 m on air, establishing a new woman's scuba depth record on air

Skin Diver publishes a three-part series blasting nitrox and mix use as unsafe for sport divers

Four new desktop decompression software packages&endash;DPA, Proplan, Dr. X, MiG&endash;are released, offering tekkies the opportunity to compute their own tables

Dive Rite Mfrg. launches the Bridge dive computer, the first variable-mix EAN computer, to be followed by Cochran Undersea Technology with its Nemesis Nitrox computer (1994)

1994 Jim Bowden establishes a new open-circuit depth record of 925 f/284 m at Zacatón. Famed cave explorer Sheck Exley dies during attempted 1,000 f/ 307 m dive.

The Scottish Sub Aqua Club (SSAC) endorses the use of enriched air nitrox for its members

Dan Manion sets new deep air record to 525 f/161 m, having survived a black out, and sustains significant injury when he is badly bent on a subsequent air dive to 300 f /92 m-plus

Rodale's Scuba Diving runs story on getting EAN certified, representing the first "mainstream" story in support of nitrox training

Technical Diving International (TDI) formed after President B. Gilliam splits from IANTD over standards and business disputes, and Rob Palmer recruited from IANTD to head up UK program

1995 Mix goes mainstream, as the BSAC announces it will offer its own enriched air nitrox instruction program, followed by similar announcement by NASE, PADI, and the SAA

Skin Diver editor Bill Gleason declares EAN allright

Rebreather grand daddy, Dräger announces their entry into the consumer rebreather market with the Atlantis I semi-closed nitrox rebreather to be marketed by swiss-based computer maker UWATEC, representing the first mainline rebreather company to offer a consumer model

Working closely with the technical and recreational diving communities, UK's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) rewrites its reg book and issues an accepted code of practice for EAN instructors