:02:22
The ancient Hawaiian sport
of surfing can be traced back...
:02:25
... as far as 1000 years ago,
as men, women, children...
:02:29
... and even Hawaii's
great King Kamehameha...
:02:32
... enjoyed the thrill of riding waves.
:02:38
In the earliest description
of the sport by a visiting European...
:02:41
... Captain James Cook observed
upon watching a surf rider...
:02:45
... in the year of 1777:
:02:47
"I could not help concluding this man
felt the most supreme pleasure...
:02:52
... while he was being driven on
so fast and so smoothly by the sea. "
:02:58
Then in the 1800s,
the waves fell flat...
:03:01
... with the arrival
of the Calvinist missionaries.
:03:06
Shocked and outraged
by the state of undress...
:03:08
... and the easy mixing of the sexes
that surfing fostered...
:03:11
... the missionaries banned the sport.
:03:17
The extinct Polynesian pastime
was then reintroduced...
:03:20
... in the early 20th century
by Alexander Hume Ford...
:03:23
... a globetrotting promoter, who set
about reviving island tourism...
:03:27
... by romanticizing surfing at Waikiki.
:03:32
In 1912 came surfing's
first international icon...
:03:36
... Waikiki beach boy and celebrated
Olympic swimming champion...
:03:39
... Duke Kahanamoku, the only surfer
to ever appear on a U.S. Stamp.
:03:46
While traveling the globe
giving swimming demonstrations...
:03:49
... Duke became surfing's
Johnny Appleseed...
:03:51
... introducing his favorite sport
to far-flung places like California...
:03:55
... New York and Australia.
:03:59
One of the fans enthralled
by the Duke was a young Wisconsin...