History of skates

At the end of the 17th century the Russian carpenter Peter Mikhailov came to Holland. He tried to be no different from other masters. Life led the most ordinary - he studied shipbuilding, went to buy supplies for lunch, and in the absence of the hostess he prepared food. In my spare time I enjoyed ice skating on the ice. At that time the skates were tied each time with straps to boots. This boring occupation quickly annoyed the carpenter, and he just nailed down the skates to the soles.

Soon the carpenter began to gather curious, but not because of his invention - on skates few people paid attention.

The Dutch, who were in Russia on trade matters, were "identified" in the carpenter of the Russian Tsar Peter I and told about it. Here is an entry left in his diary by the curious Dutchman Jacob Nomen - the character of the novel by A. Tolstoy "Peter the First": "The Tsar was able to live incognito for not more than a week;some who were in Muscovy, recognized his face. The rumor about this soon spread throughout our fatherland. On the Amsterdam exchange, people put a lot of money and bet on whether it really is a great king or just one of his ambassadors. "

More than 150 years have passed, and American Jackson Heine, who is considered the father of modern figure skating, came to Petersburg. He invented a new skate blade and firmly attached it to his boot. But when he began to advertise his invention, he was disappointed to learn that it was not new at all, and that Peter I. should still be considered a real inventor.

Ancient Japanese and European skates.

What is the age of skates? No one, unfortunately, will answer this question. One can only assume that, first of all, they appeared where there was a lot of smooth ice, while skis - in those places where a lot of snow fell. One thing is known: already several thousand years ago our ancestors were fond of skating, made from ribs or tubular bones of large animals. Usually the bone was sawed along, polished and drilled several holes to tie it to the shoes. This is confirmed by excavations of archaeologists. In the British Museum are stored skates, which were rolled several thousand years ago. For a long time they were considered the oldest, and England and the Scandinavian countries were known as the birthplace of skates. But recently in Kazakhstan were found, perhaps, the oldest skates on Earth. They refer to the Bronze Age. These are carefully polished bones of some animal. In the toe and the end of the ridge - holes for fastening.

Ice rink of the XVIII century.

There was time, the shape of the skates changed, the way of fastening, the material from which they were made. In the XVII-XVIII centuries skates were made of wood, and from the bottom and front were covered with iron.

And why, in fact, "skates"?Where does this name come from?"Skates" is a purely Russian word. It was formed from the word "horse" - the front part of the skates were often decorated with the head of a horse. So we got the name of the object for its decoration - the little horses that carry us forward. By the way, the word "horse" has another meaning. A horse or prince, a horse, a prince is an upper rib, a crest of a roof. In Russian buildings, the skate was covered with a thick hollow log for greater strength. It was called "ohlupen," and the facade ending at it was cut out in the form of a horse or a war bird.

Today skates with a light hand of Peter I tightly attached to the shoes. Figured - with screws, and hockey and cross-country - using rivets.

There are many kinds of skates. For those who are only accustomed to this sport, "Snow Maidens" are suitable - they are stable. If you like speed, you need light skates, with a long thin blade - running. Hockey players use two types of skates: for Russian hockey and ice hockey. The first blades are slightly shorter than the running ones, and the second ones are slightly curved. It is not accidental: during a tense, high-speed game on these skates it is easier to maneuver on ice. Special skates for skaters - in front teeth, and the blade is sharpened by a groove.

But no matter how comfortable the skates are, they can "fail" if the ice turns out to be bad. Masters of ice making on large skating rinks are called ice drills. Prepare a good ice - both science and art. Here's how, for example, pour a treadmill. Do this, as a rule, at night, when the frost is stronger.

The filling machine passes the first circle, then makes a stop to form an ice crust. Then again on the road, and he's not close. To get a 20-centimeter layer of ice, the car needs to drive around the circle 800 times - 320 kilometers!

For the hockey field, ice is prepared differently: first the field is covered with snow and then rolled. And only after that, water is poured. Among other things, the ice "grind" - plan, grind, pour hot and cold water. Everything depends on the skill and experience of the ice men. After all, you need to take into account the state of the ice, and the temperature of the air, and the presence of precipitation, and much more.

The work of ice-makers was greatly facilitated by the appearance of refrigeration equipment. The first artificial ice rink was built in 1876 by the Chelsea refrigeration plant in the USA.By the end of the century, ice arenas acquired Paris, London and other cities in the world.

But there are skates on which you can ride without thinking about the state of the ice. Because it is not needed at all. But we need special skates - roller skates. By the way, they are not as young as they seem. They are more than 200 years old. The story of their demonstration to the public is both ridiculous and sad. Invented roller skates master of musical instruments. He lived in London. To draw attention to his invention, he somehow drove them onto a magnificent ball-masquerade, playing the violin, but he could not slow down in time. As a result. .. the violin is broken, a huge mirror is broken, and the inventor himself seriously cut himself.

Strange sometimes there are turns in the history of inventions. It would seem that after such a "premiere" the reputation of roller skates is forever undermined. But a short plank with wheels, which is attached to the shoes strap, began to conquer the world. Since the middle of the last century in Europe and America are building halls and paved playgrounds for roller skating. Europe is not far behind Russia either. However, at first, the "roller skaters" appear only at the fairgrounds and enter the stage revues. But here on the new skates stood the athletes, then the ballet artists. Well, how could they be left behind by the ubiquitous boys, especially if they are "in business"?

Roller skates of the XIX century.

On roller skates, the boys and girls were rushing along the streets of American cities, novelties were quickly mastered by both letter-carriers and couriers-people often of venerable age. In many countries, most of the working day on the rollers began to hold airport employees, weavers in the maintenance of machine tools, workers of large assembly shops, guides in museums. If you manage to visit the Louvre - such skates can offer to you.

Modern roller skates.

Very soon it turned out that skating-roller skating is not only pleasant, but also useful. It promotes the development of coordination, improves the vestibular apparatus. Everyone can use roller, and age has absolutely nothing to do with it. To ride them, maintaining balance, there is no need for any special training.

But the videos are not as harmless as it seems at first glance. For example, in 1978 - the year of the roller boom in America - in hospitals there were 93 thousand boys and girls with broken arms and legs. And this is thanks to simple while the videos, which did not use special tools to increase the speed. And there are a lot of such funds. Here are just some of them.

1906 year. France. In one of the parks in Paris tested motorized roller skates. Each horse had its own miniature single-cylinder gasoline engine with a gasoline tank and battery.

in 1915.USA.Invented wheeled skates, which move with a small electric motor, and the battery is attached to a wide belt.

1980 year. West Germany. Improved motorized skates, their motor became more miniature, the control is carried out with the help of a special drive.

1983 year. France. On the asphalt the young man rolls on roller skates. He has a fan in his hands. The power of traction is such that it draws a person forward.

More recently in America, roller skates have become a "board on wheels."Riding on it requires great courage and dexterity. Maybe that's why it so quickly gained popularity among young people all over the world? The new kind of sport has already held competitions, on sidewalks and asphalted grounds you can often see the guys deftly balancing on the rapidly rushing boards on wheels - skateboards. ..

Do you know?

Who is the author of these lines and what is the name of the poem?

A.S. Pushkin "Autumn".