Catch a Wave With This History of Surfing Quiz

In ancient Hawaii, surfing was used as a training exercise for chiefs, who had their own specific kind of board, called “olo.” According to historical accounts, olo boards were used exclusively by chiefs and noblemen, a class known as ali'i. These boards were long and narrow, especially compared to the alaia boards used by commoners.

Agatha Christie's adventurous spirit informed her most popular characters, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. But none of the fictional sleuths shared Christie's hobby of surfing. She first became interested in the sport while traveling in South Africa, where she joined locals in surfing on lightweight wooden boards, which she proclaimed "great fun."

"Surfin' USA" debuted in 1963 and served as the first single, opening track, and title of the Beach Boys' second album. A rewritten version of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," with new lyrics by Brian Wilson, the song celebrates surf culture and the laid-back lifestyle that goes with it, with specific call-outs to famous surf spots such as Hawaii's Waimea Bay, L.A.'s Pacific Palisades, and County Line Beach in Ventura County, California.

Before he created the characters of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain worked as a freelance journalist. For one assignment in 1866, he traveled to Hawaii's Kona Coast and wrote of a group of locals "amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing." Marveling at the sight, Twain described how "at the right moment [a surfer] would fling his board upon [a wave's] foamy crest and himself upon the board, and here he would come whizzing by like a bombshell!"

Several cities claim the title "Surf City" (including places actually named "Surf City" in New Jersey and North Carolina), but Southern California's Huntington Beach has a lock on the trademark for "Surf City, USA." The picturesque locale hosts dozens of surf contests per year, including the U.S. Open of Surfing. Huntington Beach is also home to the Surfers' Hall of Fame and the International Surfing Museum.

Known as "the Big Kahuna" and the father of modern surfing, Duke Kahanamoku was also an Olympic swimmer. He made his first appearance at the Games in 1912 in Stockholm, where he won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Kahanamoku added to his trophy case with two gold medals at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, and silver at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.

Surfing wasn't always competitive, but in the era of surfing as a professional sport, Kelly Slater is undoubtedly the GOAT. Slater won his first world title in 1992, then dominated with five straight world titles from 1994 to 1998. He retired in 1999 but rejoined the tour in 2002, winning five more titles after that.

"Hang 10" may be more well known as a greeting or a hand gesture, but it's also an actual move on a surfboard. Standing at the nose of the board with all 10 toes hanging over the edge is literally "hanging 10." Doing it with one foot is considered "hanging five."

The Hawaiians who took surfing and made it the practice we recognize today originally gave it a name that translates literally to "wave sliding." It was also called "the sport of kings" by its Polynesian inventors, and skill at surfing was something chiefs and noblemen aspired to.

Modern surfboards are commonly made of polyurethane or polystyrene foam and covered with layers of fiberglass cloth, but the earliest surfboards used by Polynesians were made of wood. Popular woods were redwood, koa, cedar, and wiliwili. Eventually, surfers started mixing in lighter balsa woods to make the boards easier to carry, and after World War II, plastics entered the picture.