User:Nelsonj9/sandbox

Trap shooting has been around since the 18th century. A publication known as "Sporting Magazine" states that by the year 1793, trap shooting was "well established" in England.[4][2] The first record of organized trap shooting in the United States is likely to have taken place at the Sportsman's Club of Cincinnati in 1831.[5][2] 

Originally, live birds were used as targets, released from under hats.[2] Glass balls came into use as targets in the 1860s and began to partially replace live birds, but the  it is still practiced in some parts of the United States.[6][2]  The glass ball targets were invented by Charles Portlock, of Boston. The glass balls were used by notable shooters like Annie Oakley, Doc Carver, and Capt. A. H. Bogardus. Most of the glass ball targets were made of colorless glass and had a diameter of 2½ inches. Some targets, were filled with colored powder to indicate a hit, and add visual effect. Also, for the shooters who like the live game sport, they would fill the inside of the targets with feathers.

When Bogardus took up glass ball and clay pigeon shooting in 1868, and went on to win many championships. Bogardus, was well known as one of the most successful trap shooters in the early years of the sport. In the spring of 1883 he would be defeated by a competitive shooter named Doc Carver. Doc Carver idolized Bogardus, and all the other renown shooters. He attempted to attract the great Bogardus, but it wasn’t until six years later, when the two legends finally came together for a match, the winner wouldn’t be the more veteran Capt. Bogardus, it would be Doc.Carver. Carver had won 19 out of 25 matches. In most of those matches they were using Ligowsky targets.

  In 1880 "Clay" birds (disks) were invented by a man named Fred Kimble, but George Ligowsky takes the credit for the invention.[2] The Ligowsky target was used widely in the early trapshooting community, as a replacement for the glass ball targets. The downside of the Ligowsky targets were that they were too hard to break when hit. Fred Kimble made a more breakable target, unlike the Ligowsky target, which was made of hard baked clay, the Kimble target was made of coal-tar, pitch and other ingredients to make it more breakable. 

There were many different types of target throwers or also known as a “trap,” like one made by Bogardus, which was made to through glass targets. This trap was able to through the targets from 28 to 35 yards. The first automatic trap machine (to launch clay targets) was used in 1909.[2] Following the invention of the automatic trap machines, doubles trap was introduced. It was a big success in the competition community. In the 1912 olympics, Jay Graham became the first American to win the gold medal in doubles trap. 

Three years later, in 1915 the American Amateur Trapshooting Association (AATA) was formed with John Philip Sousa as president. This organization was the first organized and run by amateurs. When the AATA was disbanded in 1919, it was absorbed by an organization called the  American Trapshooting  Association. In 1923 the American Trapshooting Association was renamed Amateur Trapshooting Association, and the same organization is still active today.