George nissen biography

American inventor of the modern trampoline (1914–2010)

George Peter Nissen^[1] (February 3, 1914 – April 7, 2010) was an American gymnast and inventor who developed the modern trampoline and made trampolining a worldwide sport and recreation.^[2]

Background

Born on February 3, 1914, in Blairstown, Iowa, to Franklin C.

Nissen and Catherine M. (Jensen) Nissen, George became a keen gymnast in high school and won three NCAA gymnastics championships while a student at the University of Iowa. Nissen went to high school at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.^[3] Nissen was also an initiated member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity while he was in school.

He had seen circus trapeze artists use their safety nets as an elastic bed to rebound and perform additional tricks. He thought that this would be useful training tool for his tumbling. In 1934, Nissen and his coach, Larry Griswold, built the prototype trampoline from angle