History of scuba diving the high number of recreational scuba accidents. this started with informal training and led to the creation of training and certification agencies. BS-AC was formed in 1953, CMAS in 1959, NAUI in 1960 and PADI in 1966. The sport of scuba diving had its roots among the multitude of small enthusiastic snorkelling and spearfishing clubs in the decades just before and after the Second World War. After the invention of the "aqualung" by Cousteau and Gagnan, the first commercially marketed underwater breathing apparatus became available for sale for sporting purposes in the late 1940s. In 1951, Jim Auxie Jr and
Aqua Lung America Aqua Lung America Aqua Lung America (formerly U.S. Divers Company) is an American company based in Vista, California which makes scuba equipment. The company is a division of Aqua Lung International, which was, for most of its existence, a division of Air Liquide. Aqua Lung International was sold by Air Liquide to Montagu Private Equity by the end of 2016. After U.S. Divers Company was renamed Aqua Lung America, the name U.S. Divers was retained as a trademark for Aqua Lung's line of snorkelling equipment. The "Aqua-Lung" regulator was created by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan in 1943. In 1946,