1854: The First Modern Life Jacket
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In 1854, Captain John Ward of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) designed a new type of cork life jacket. The RNLI promoted its widespread use by issuing it to lifeboat crew members. The new type of cork life jacket ushered in an era of personal flotation devices that were meant to be worn and that were used to protect the lives of people working on and in the water.