The sport of bungee jumping is descended from a ritual practiced by
South Pacific islanders that involves jumping from a height while
attached to long vines.
"Bungee jumps originated in Pentecost Island in the New Hebrides,
where a local tribe of natives performed their manhood-rites by
jumping off a 25 metre high bamboo tower with a stiff stem of liana
tied to their feet.
Modern bungee jumps originated in New Zealand at the end of the 80s,
when the first jumps were performed using a rubber rope. Bungee became
known to the masses thanks to the New Zealander A.J.Hackett, who
performed his legendary jump from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The
Eiffel Tower jump was broadcast on TV channels all over the world. As
a result, bungee jumping took off in France, spread to other European
countries, and has now gained popularity all over the world."
Skybreakers: The History of Bungee Jumping
http://www.skybreakers.com/eng/history.html
"Bungee jumping has its origins in a centuries-old, springtime
practice on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, in the Pacific, where 'land
divers' jumped off high wooden towers with liana vines fastened to
their ankles to ensure a good year's harvest-, modern bungee jumping,
however, began in Bristol, England, in 1979 with four simultaneous
jumps off the Clifton Suspension Bridge.3 It quickly spread to New
Zealand, Australia, and France, then to California, Colorado, and
other U.S. locales. The youngest boy to bungee jump was 3 years old;
the youngest girl to jump was 4 years old; the oldest man to jump was
100 years old; the oldest woman to jump was 89 years old."
Bungee.com: Bungee Jumping
http://www.bungee.com/bzapp/press/mcmil.html
"There is an island in the South Pacific, Pentecost Island, that is
part of the Vanuatu nation. They have a tradition, called 'land
diving', that is the root of what we today know as 'Bungee Jumping'.
Young men of Pentecost Island performed, and are still performing, the
'land diving' ritual as a rite of passage to prove their manhood.
The ritual is quite simple. Build a tower, pick two vines, climb to
the top of the tower, tie the vines' ends to your ankles and the
other ends to the tower, and then jump...
Four members of Oxford University's Dangerous Sports Club performed
the very first modern Bungee Jump. They jumped from Clifton suspension
bridge, a 250 foot high structure. The four neatly dressed adventurers
(as the rules of their club expected) were immediately arrested.
Bungee, a British slang term for 'Indian Rubber', went into a state of
hibernation. In the 1980's it became a sport and business but it did
not return to British soil until the 1990's."
SA Bungee: Bungee Jumping History
http://www.sabungee.co.za/bungee_history.htm
"Bungee jumping is an activity in which a person jumps off from a high
place (generally of several hundred feet / meters ) with one end of an
elastic cord attached to his/her body or ankles and the other endtied
to the jumping-off point. When the person jumps, the cord will stretch
to take up the energy of the fall, then the jumperwill fly upwards as
the cord snaps back. The jumper oscillates up and down until the
initial energy of the jump isdissipated.
In the 1950s David Attenborough and a BBC film crew had brought back
footage of the 'land divers' of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, young men
who jumped from tall wooden platforms with vines tied to theirankles
as a test of courage. This film inspired Chris Baker of Bristol,
England to use elastic rope in a kind of urban vinejumping. The first
modern bungee jump was made on 1 April 1979 from the 250ft Clifton
Suspension Bridge in Bristol, and was made by four members of the
Dangerous Sports Club. The jumpers, led by David Kirke, were arrested
shortly after, but continued with jumps in the US from the Golden Gate
and Royal Gorge bridges, spreading the concept worldwide. By 1982 they
were jumping from mobile cranes and hot air balloons, and putting on
commercial displays."
AltVetMed: Book Bungee
http://www.altvetmed.com/face/28606-book-bungee.html
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "bungee jumping" origins OR originated
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22bungee+jumping%22+origins+OR+originated
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pinkfreud |
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