1920 Walter Fredrick Morrison born, Richfield, Utah. (January 23)

1937 Fred flips a popcorn can lid at a Nay family Thanksgiving gathering. (November 25)

1938 Fred & Lu begin selling cake pans on Santa Monica, California beaches.

1940s Fred serves in WWII as an Army Air Corps pilot, is shot down, and becomes a POW for 48 days.

1946 Fred sketches a design for the world’s first flying disc and names it the Whirlo-Way after the

legendary racehorse Whirlaway. A draftsman translates it into a professional drawing which

Fred mails to himself and copies to two others to establish priority.

1947 Pilot Ken Arnold reports nine UFOs flying by Mount Rainier. During an interview with him by

Bill Bequette of United Press, Arnold states: “Well, they flew erratic, like a saucer if you skip it

across the water.” Bequette, in his write-up, coins the term “Flying Saucer.” An alien craft is

reported to have crashed near Roswell, NM.

1947 Fred meets Warren Franscioni who puts up the money to develop a plastic flying disc mold.

Their partnership, called PIPCO, is born.

1948 The first plastic flying discs, called FLYIN-SAUCERS, are produced.

1948-50 Flyin-Saucers sold extensively at fairs, in a few stores, and at beaches using “invisible wire” and other sales ploys.

1950 Fred and Warren part company. (February)

1955 The birth of the modern flying disc. Fred designs the PLUTO PLATTER—universally recognized as

far superior to the Flyin-Saucer in both flight performance and appearance!

1955 Lu Morrison coins the famous instructions on the back of the Pluto Platter: “Play Catch—Invent

Games. To Fly, Flip Away Backhanded. Flat Flip Flies Straight, Tilted Flip Curves—Experiment!”

1956 Wham-O co-owners, Rich Knerr and Arthur “Spud” Mellin, observe the successful sales of the

Pluto Platter at regional fairs.

1956 Fred begins negotiations with Wham-O in December.

1957 On January 23, Fred and Lu sign all rights to the Pluto Platter over to Wham-O. They are sold in

test stores at first, then in sporting-goods and general retail stores.

1957 Wham-O first uses the name “Frisbee” (June 17; in commerce July 8).

1957-8 The Hula Hoop fad inundates Wham-O and temporarily limits Pluto Platter production.

1957-60 Fred and Lu continue to sell Pluto Platters at fairs.

1957 Wham-O submits an application for a design patent in Fred’s name on July 22 (serial No. 47,035).

1957 Fred and Lu demonstrate wooden prototype Hula Hoops to fairgoers for Wham-O.

1958 The Pluto Platter mold is retooled to add the name “Frisbee.”

1958 Fred receives U.S. Design Patent No. 183,626 on September 30 for a “Flying Toy.”

1959 Wham-O receives Registered Trademark #679186 for the name “Frisbee” on May 2.

1964 Pluto Platters are demonstrated at the New York World’s Fair by players behind a glass wall.

1964 Ed Headrick, newly hired Vice President in Charge of Marketing, has Wham-O alter the mold for

the Pluto Platter to make the Professional Model Frisbee, released in October.

1965 Ed Headrick files a patent application for a Flying Saucer on November 1 based on the improved

flight performance caused by “a series of concentric discontinuities” (rings) first used on the Pro.

1967 Ed Headrick is awarded the first utility patent on a flying disc, #3359678, on December 26.

1967 International Frisbee Association (IFA) developed by Ed Headrick.

1969 The first International Junior Frisbee Tournament is held in Madison Square Garden, N.Y.C.

1974 Fred attends the World Frisbee Championships held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

1978 Fred is inducted into the Frisbee Hall of Fame as a charter member.  

2002 Ed Headrick dies.

2007 Wham-O celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Frisbee by re-issuing the Pluto Platter and other

historic flying disc models.