Out of ordinary: Oldest Ice Skates?

The oldest pair of skates known date from about 3000 BC and were found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland. They were made from the leg bones of large animals, holes were bored at each end of the bone and leather straps were used to tie the skates onto the skater's feet. By the 14th century, the Dutch had developed wooden skates with flat iron bottom runners. Around 1500, a narrow double-edged blade was developed. E.V. Bushnell, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, invented the first steel clamp, in 1848. Jackson Haines, a famous US skater, developed 2-plate blades attached to boots. John J. Strauss, from St. Paul, Minnesota, invented the first closed toe blade, making skates lighter and stronger. The Glacarium, first artificial ice rink was built by John Gamgee in Chelsea, London, in 1876.