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Hockey
In the 1880's, players started to protect their shins from sticks and pucks. They used strips of leather or felt, reinforced with thin legs of cane. Leather gloves were worn not for protection anymore, but for warmth. -
Hockey
The first golatender to wear leg pads was George Merritt in the 1896 Stanley Cup challenge game. The pads he used were cricket pads. -
Hockey
Players began protecting knee caps with a large square of leather or canvas, reinforced with felt. They also wore gloves made out of leather and had padding made up of animal hair and felt. Some gloves added thin sticks of bamboo or rattan positioned over the wrist portion to provide extra protection. -
Hockey
Fed Taylor, a star player in the early century, is said to be one of the first players to protect his shoulders and back from injury. He took some pieces of felt from a harness shop and sewed them into his undershirt around the shoulders and down the back. -
Hockey
Knee and shin pads were attached together to provide increased protection. -
Hockey
Clint Benedict had his nose broken by Howie Morenzs' shot in an game. Benedict became the first goaltender to wear a mask in an NHL game. However, the leather face mask did not prove practical and he stopped wearing it after two games. -
Hockey
After , who played for the Montreal Maroons, suffered a broken thumb, his trainer Bill O' Brien put a shoehorn inside Sieberts glove t provide reinforcement and protection to his thumb. This invention was where they got the idea for the reinforced fiber thumb which became a staple on hockey gloves. -
Hockey
Ace Bailey suffered a carreer ending head injury when he struck his head on the ice after a collision with Eddie Shore, who played for the opposing team. Shore became the first high profile player to wear a helmet regularly in the NHL after the collision. -
Hockey
In the years 1937-38, improvements vontinued to be made to all forms of equipment. The League passed a rule that prohibited the use of pads made of metal or any other materials likely to cause injury to a player. -
Football
Before 1943 helmets, leather padding was optional. After 1943 they were minatory to wear. The first helmets were leather with light padding inside. -
Hockey
Felt and lether shoulder pads began to be replaced by pads made of plastic and fiberglass. The shoulder pads were similar to those that had been developed for football. By the late 1940's numerous opponents were being injured. They were protecting the wearer, but injuring the opponent. The NHL decided that it wasn't right to protect one player while the other was being injured from the equipment they were wearing. -
Nascar
No safety features in cars at all. Anything and everything is legal. -
Nascar begins
Stock car racing becomes official with first race at Daytona. -
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Nascar
First safety additions to cars are a seatbelt or rope and goggles to prevent the driver from flying around the inside of the vehicle. -
Football
The first player use to wear just simple forms of padding. During the 1950's is when shoulder pads were commonly used. The padding was healed together by piece of leather. Later new polymer helmet was introduced. -
Hockey
In 1950-51, because of the number of injuries increased of players from shoulder and elbow pads, they required that they include a soft outer covering. All elbow pads that did not hav a soft protective outer cover would be considered dangerous and illegal equipment. The League also adopted a new rule that results in major penatly to a player when an injury is suffered as a result of an elbow. -
Nascar
Roll bars were starting to be used but they were still not mandatory. -
Football
Facemasks were suggested, but not required. They were sugegested to help with no so many broken noses and broken teeth. Facemasks rules were set in place. -
Hockey
A new elbow pad was developed by Lippman's Tool Shop in Detroit that added a sponge rubber covering over the hard plastic, fiber or leather elbow protector. The Detroit Red Wings were the first club to use this new elbow pad. -
Hockey
Eye injuries caused by the butt end of the hockey stick had become more common in the NHL in the 1950's. Harry Doughty developed the "Doughty Safety Grip." a piece of rubber that was two inches in length and attached to the end of a hockey stick. This decreased the amount of head injuries n the NHL. -
Nascar
Mercury Monterey crashed into the crowd causing more modern tracks to be built. -
Hockey
President Campbell called a meeting with all equipment manufacturers and announced that equipment must gain approval from the NHL's Rules Committee. The Leauge had concerns that equipment manufactureres were designing equipment that protects the player, but injures the opposing players. -
Hockey
The Rules Committee mandated that sponge rubber covering on elbow pads must be at least a half an inch in thickness. -
Hockey
Jacques Plante became the first goaltender to wear a mask on a regular basis in the NHL. -
Hockey
Ken Reardon has the idea of protection around the legs to protect players from flying skates after Bernie Geoffrion suffered a severed tendon in the back of his leg from another player's skate. -
Hockey
In the 1959-60s, only these four players wore helmets on a regular basis: Charlie Burns and Vic Stasiuk of the Boston Bruins, Warren Godfrey of the Detroit Red Wings, and Camille Henry of the New York Rangers. -
Nascar
Shoulder straps were added to help protect drivers from flying out the windshield or bounching around the inside. -
NASCAR
Rear-window rails were installed to help prevent the roof of the car from caving in when rolled. -
Hockey
The CCM, who designed hockey equipment developed a new shin guard made of 12 ply nylon. The shin guard was lightweight an didn't mess up the player's skating ability and provied the protection to protect against skate cuts. -
Hockey
CCM introuduced the Prolite skate with the "Pro Guard," a hard plastic cover on the heel of the skate blade. The new skate featured armor plate nylon rather than the bonze mesh that they used to use. Tendon protection became a focal point of the boot. Durability and premium grade kangaroo leather made an infallible boot. -
Nascar
Roll cages were added to all cars and made manditory. -
Nascar
Lap belts are mandated for every driver in Nascar. -
NASCAR
Inner fenderwells removed for custom tubework. -
Period: to
Nascar
Indycar constructors attempted to add impact disspation in their car designs. -
Hockey
In the 1970s, helmets became widely used in the NHL. -
Hockey
Andy Brown played against St. Louis wihtout a mask. This was the last time a maskless goaltender was seen in an NHL game. -
Hockey
Fiberglass blade introudced on the hockey stick. -
Football
"The Deacon Jones Rule," named after NFl Hall of Famer Deacon Jones. Jones comonly used move was he would give a hard slap to the helmet of the offensive lineman trying to block him. It was banned in 1977. -
Football
The using the helmet as a weapon was banned in 1979. If you tackel the quarterback late and tackling a player when your head it down was banned. The rule protects the person tackling and the person being tackled. -
Hockey
Helemts became mandatory in the NHL for any player signing his firt contract after June 1, 1979 Craig MacTavish was the last NHler to player without a helmet, retiring in 1996-97. -
Hockey
NHL approved the use of aluminum shaft sticks in Leauge play. -
Nascar
Restrictor plates were mandated for all racecars in order to slow down cars. -
Nascar
Metal guardrails added to tracks to prevent driver from going into the pits. -
Hockey
Cuffs on gloves that were two inches shorter began to be manufactured. The short cuff gloves which cut off past the wrist instead of reaching several inches up the forearm, are used by the majority of NHL players by the early 1990's. The short gloves exposed the wrist to potential injuries so players began to attach specially molded plastic to the front part of their elbow pads to protect the lower part of their forearm. Manufacturers also started producing longer elbow pads at this time. -
Football
During the 1900's polycarbonate helmets started to be used. -
Nascar
Spotters were added to help get drivers around wrecks and pass other cars safely. -
Nascar
Pit road speed limits were put in place to prevent pit crew members and drivers from wrecks. -
Nascar
Roof flaps were added to cars to keep them from going airborn. -
Football
"The Erik Williams Rule" named after former Dallas Cowboy, Erik Williams. He use to take his hands and put them in the facemask of the defensive player's helemet. The rule was set into place in 1997. -
Football
The American Academy of Neurology changes the return to play guidelines. If a player lose consciousness or shows any symptons for 15 mintues before or durning the game, they can not play. "Repeated concussions can cause cumlative brain injury in an individual over months or years." -
Nascar
First SAFER barrier added to Nascar tracks. -
Nascar
PEDs barrier was added to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a trial. -
Nascar
Nascar mandates the use of head-and-neck restraint systems. -
Nascar
Over-the-wall crew memebers were required to wear helmets after a wreck in 2001. -
Nascar
SAFER barrier installed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in time for Indiannapolis 500. Robby McGehee was the first to test it out after getting in a wreck on the first day of practice. -
Hockey
The NHL and Reebok unveil a new uniform system at the 55th NHL All-Star game in Dallas, designed to enhance player performance and increase protection and safety. -
Nascar
Teams may not push start a car more than three car links. -
Football
During 2009 many rules were added for saftey of the players. One of the new rules added was, you can not tackel or block with the helmet, forearm, and shoulder to player's head or neck. Initial contact to the head of a "defensless receiver" or on a kick return, "a blocking wedge" can not be used by two or more players. On and onside kick return, the team kicking can not have five players standing together or "bunched together." -
Football
New return to play guidelines, if a player shows symptoms of a concussion, players can not return to play on the same day. -
Football
In March of 2011 the NFL changes the kick-off rule to 35-yards line to reduce the speed of collisions during a kickoff. -
Nascar
Teams may not plug a cable that connects an engine control unit to a computer during a pit stop with the car on pit lane. -
Nascar
Forward roof bar and center roof support bar were added to roll cages to protect the rough from caving in.
