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Leather cap invention
According to https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ The first football helmet was made because of a man named, Admiral Joseph Mason Reeve. Reeve's doctor said if Reeve kept getting hit in the head, it could lead to “instant insanity.” -
Hardened leather cap
According to https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ "In the early 1920s, hardened leather caps were first introduced, slightly increasing protection." -
The plastic helmet
According to https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ The first plastic helmet was made by John T. Riddell in 1939. Making the game much safer then it was. -
The helmet bar was introduced
Helmets were open faced before 1955, this caused bloody noses, bruised faces, and swollen lips. This changed in 1955 when they introduced the single bar football helmets. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ -
The more complex facemask (facemasks today)
According to https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ "Though the single bar face mask was an important innovation, it was soon replaced by increasingly complex styles of face protection. In 2004, the NFL formally banned single bar helmets, but some players were grandfathered in. This exception was made exclusively for kickers, who like the single bar because what it lacked in safety, it made up for in visibility."