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Images: #TBT Gallery revisits suburban scuba diving events

Scuba diving is a fun underwater activity that has been taught around the suburbs including in area high schools.

Scuba is an acronym that stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

The first independent scuba diving system were known as closed-circuit rebreathers and were developed for escape and rescue purposes and for military use.

The first commercially successful design was built by English merchant seaman Henry Fleuss in 1878. The gear consisted of a rubber mask that was connected to a breathing bag, with an oxygen mix supplied from a copper tank while carbon dioxide is absorbed by rope soaked in caustic potash. The unit allowed divers to breathe underwater for depths up to 25-feet for almost three hours.

The first commercially successful underwater scuba gear were known as the Aqualung that was a twin hose open-circuit unit developed by Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1943. This design introduced compressed air from back mounted tanks to be operated with a demand valve regulator as divers inhaled the oxygen mix while exhaling carbon dioxide into the water through a different tube.

With so many area lakes, fire departments have utilized firefighters with skills in scuba diving for the purposes of search and rescue. Firefighters train in scuba diving search techniques throughout the year, including in the middle of winter.

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Students learn to scuba dive in classes in Arlington Heights in July of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
St. Viator High School students learn to scuba dive from teachers from the Palatine YMCA in Arlington Heights in August of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
A girl breathes underwater as students learn to scuba dive in classes in Arlington Heights in July of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
St. Viator High School students learn to scuba dive from teachers from the Palatine YMCA in Arlington Heights in August of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
St. Viator High School students swim underwater as they learn to scuba dive from teachers from the Palatine YMCA in Arlington Heights in August of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
An instructor talks to students as they learn to scuba dive in classes in Arlington Heights in July of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
The Wheeling Fire Department practices diving rescues in September of 1971. Daily Herald file photo
The Wheeling Fire Department practices diving rescues in September of 1971. Daily Herald file photo
St. Viator High School students adjust their scuba gear as they learn to scuba dive from teachers from the Palatine YMCA in Arlington Heights in August of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
St. Viator High School students adjust their scuba gear as they learn to scuba dive from teachers from the Palatine YMCA in Arlington Heights in August of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
The Wheeling Fire Department practices diving rescues in September of 1971. Daily Herald file photo
Students learn to put on scuba gear during a scuba diving demonstration at Wheeling High School in July of 1972. Daily Herald file photo
Students learn to put on scuba gear during a scuba diving demonstration at Wheeling High School in July of 1972. Daily Herald file photo
Mount Prospect Fire Department firefighters check their equipment in the water during scuba diving exercises in August of 1972. Daily Herald file photo
A Mount Prospect Fire Department personnel monitor a scuba diver in the water during scuba diving exercises in August of 1972. Daily Herald file photo
A Wheeling Fire Department scuba diver is dressed in all of his gear in January of 1977. Daily Herald file photo
One student help's another with his scuba tank as they learn to scuba dive in classes in Arlington Heights in July of 1970. Daily Herald file photo
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