January is National Skating Month. Before there was a Michelle Kwan or Nathan Chan and ice skating was a source of entertainment and art: It was just used to get around. Ice skates have had a lot of makeovers and purposes. Here is the illustrious history of ice skating

Ice skating became an official thing in 1800 BC. It occurred in Scandanavia. These skates were made of animal bones and leather straps to hook on to your feet.

(Bone Skates)

 You would pierce a bone through leather straps. These skates would be used to transport through all the rivers and canyons throughout that area. They couldn't push through their legs to skate like we do now. To use these skates, you would have to stab a stick into the ground in between your legs in order to push forward and gain momentum. Bones were seen as good material for skates because the oily nature of bones and has contact with the ice. Bone skates were used for a while until skates transitioned to wood.

(Wooden Skates)

From the 13th century to the 18 century, skates were changed to simple wooden skates that had the same strap from the previous model.  You didn't have to have that stick in the middle, so you can actually glide with the skates on.

(Jackson Haines)

 The 13th century didn't just introduce wooden skates, it introduced a Little Ice age. This little Ice Age led to pd winters continuously throughout the years. Therefore, ice skating got way more popular. Skates were mass produced and cheaply made. The Englishman Robert Jones wrote a treatise of ice skating in 1772. This is known as the first account of figure skating. Jackson Haine, a known ballet dancer, adapted his techniques to ice dancing. He is known as the father of ice skating.  Skate makers started to make skating blades as thin and long as possible.  In 1908, figure skating was made into a Olympic Sport. And now figure skating is one of the most popular sports to date.