History of bike helmet
1880's was when the first bike helmet was needed due to head injuries began to increase. Helmets was made from "Pith", it's the plant material of the rind in oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits. It's spongy white tissue lining is easily crush-able, therefore was ideal to break up on impact, riders only needed protection against a single impact to know the helmet saved them, and know it was worth buying another helmet. But it was likely the best material available at that time.
Bike boom during 1970’s, many American adults took up cycling as an exercise and a sport. "Helmets" (also known as Hairnet) was invented by Snell Foundation. Made by a strips of ring leather-covered padding, warped around the head and a wool ring above that. The style evolved and Italy produced beautiful soft leather. The interior of the strip was a foam, but it wasn't very protective and they would rot from sweat. By 1975, Bell Auto parts invented the first real helmet for cyclists. It consisted of a hard plastic shell padded with a foam-like material. Produced from a thick all-EPS helmet that was highly protective. The design was actually an adaptation of a helmet Bell had produced for pediatricians to protect child heads after surgery. Bell limited the idea to toddler helmets in the belief that adult helmets would always require a hard shell. This was the beginning of the modern helmet. The American National Standards Institute introduced standards for helmets that were widely accepted in 1984. Quality of only helmets helped to remove ineffective helmets from the market. Foam liner polystyrene was invented, so by the 1990’s a thin hard shell was added to the polystyrene foam helmet for durability. Nowadays helmets are even lighter, more streamline, and have multiple vents for comfort and adjustable straps to make them more secure and easier to wear. The increasing use of helmets, reinforced the drop in head injuries statistics.
source - davison.com
