How a Visit to the Circus Led to the Invention of the Trampoline
George Nissen was born on 2/3/14 in Blairstown, Iowa. He was only 16 when he saw a trapeze artist in a circus act fall onto an elastic table that was like a spring that propelled the artist back up into the air. George went home and right to work building something even better. He got a piece of canvas and pulled in over a steel ring and he called it the bouncing rig. George went to Mexico for an atheletic event. He learned that the Mexican word for diving board is trampolin, hence the inspiration for the word trampoline. He registered trampoline as a trademark. Later, George added automobile inner tube strips to the frame and made it even better.