Frisbee Inventor Walter Frederick Morrison (1920-2010)

Last week, the inventor of the Frisbee, Walter "Fred" Morrison passed away at the age of 90. Fred came up with the idea for the Frisbee shortly after World War II. He realized that flinging cake pans through the air was a lot of fun, but a more aerodynamic "pan" would work a lot better. In fact, a lot of people and groups lay claim to "inventing" the Frisbee concept since tossing pie and cake pans was apparently a pretty popular activity on college campuses and beaches for many years. But, it was Fred Morrison, with the help of his wife and some colleagues, who developed a better flying disc made out of plastic.

He originally named the disc the "Pluto Platter" to cash in on the flying saucer craze of the 1950s. He sold the invention to the Wham-O toy company, which eventually changed the name to Frisbee because that's what college students in New England were calling it since they associated the toy with the tossed pies of the Frisbie Pie Company.

This innovation has created hours of enjoyment for people everywhere and for many happy dogs. Thanks, Fred, for all the fun!