Since his childhood days in Iowa, George Nissen liked to jump.
He and his brother used to do tumbling and acrobatics together. A trip to the circus also inspired him — he liked how the flying acrobats would bounce off the safety net.
In college, he began trying in earnest to create what later became known as the modern trampoline.
George Nissen’s daughter, Dian Nissen, a trampoline coach in San Diego, grew up hearing her father’s stories.
“Because [George Nissen] was really a gymnast and a diver and an acrobat — he became a national champion — he saw [the trampoline] first and foremost as a device to help him get better at doing those things and also as a way to perform."