A personal flotation device, commonly called a life jacket, is a vest or suit worn to keep its wearer afloat with the head and mouth above the water's surface without requiring the wearer to swim or tread water, even while unconscious. Early flotation aids used inflated bladders or animal skins, and cork blocks became commercially available to English boaters through advertisements in The Sporting Magazine in 1804; Captain John Ross Ward, an Inspector of Lifeboats at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, created a dedicated brown cork vest for lifeboat crews in 1854. Cork was largely replaced in 1904 by watertight pouches filled with kapok, a lightweight vegetable fiber far more flexible and comfortable to wear, and the modern inflatable life preserver was invented in 1928 by Peter Markus, later nicknamed the Mae West for its appearance when worn inflated.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.