Inventor of the Frisbee Dies

The inventor of the popular outdoor toy, the Frisbee, Walter (Fred) Morrison died Feb. 9 at age 90. Morrison had been battling lung cancer and passed away at his Monroe, Utah home.

In 1937 he got the idea to make a flying-saucer toy when he and his girlfriend tossed a popcorn-tin lid back and fourth for fun. The lid dented eventually which ruined its aerodynamics so Morrison began throwing all different kinds of disks to find out which one was the most aerodynamic. He then began selling flying cake pans for 25 cents in the Los Angeles area.

Morrison served as a bomber pilot in World War II and learned aerodynamics. In the 1950s he went on to create an aerodynamic disc made of plastic. Since the nation was obsessed with UFOs at the time he called his invention the Pluto Platter.

In 1957 Hula Hoop manufacturer Wham-O bought rights to Morrison's invention and renamed it the Frisbee because it was similar to the pie pans from Frisbie Pie Co.that some people enjoyed tossing around.

"The world has changed a lot in the past 50 years, but the original purpose of Frisbee has remained constant," Morrison said in 2007 on the 50th anniversary of his invention. "Just seeing the smile on a child's face as he or she catches a soaring disc on a summer afternoon in the park, or a grown-up diving headfirst to grab a falling disc, that is what the spirit of the Frisbee is all about."