On This Date in Minnesota History: June 28

June 28, 1922 - Water skiing came about “when eighteen-year-old Ralph Samuelson of Minn., proposed the idea that if you could ski on snow, then you could ski on water. Ralph first attempted water skiing on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minn., towed by his brother Ben. The brothers experimented for several days until July 2, 1922 when Ralph discovered that leaning backwards with ski tips up lead to successful water skiing.” Ralph Samuelson never patented any of his water skiing equipment.
http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventions/a/waterskiing.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Samuelson