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Many early experiments with gliding flight throughout the late 19th century were performed using craft that would now be considered hang gliders, by notable pioneers such as Otto Lilienthal, and interest in the sport continued throughout the 20th century.
See Everard Cunion's history of hang gliding [1], which incorporates a history of the Wessex Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (UK) and links to other hang gliding web sites.
Hang gliding was invented, or at least strongly influenced, by the NASA technician Francis Rogallo in the 1960s who had to develop a landing system for the Apollo astronauts return to earth. From there, much of the development of hang gliders occurred in Australia, where the first hang glider manufacturing firms were established. The major breakthrough was the famous flight of Mike Harker from the Zugspitze in Germany in 1972. After that hang gliding became popular all over the world, with the peak in the 1980s. ParaglidingParagliding (known in some countries as parapenting is a recreational and competitive sport that is best described as a hybrid of hang gliding and parachuting. A paraglider is free-flying, unlike the parachutes used in parasailing, which is generally a pa has since become a popular alternative to hang gliding, although the two disciplines vary in popularity throughout different countries.
For a fuller path to hang glider history, follow the threads and leads found in HangGliderHistory group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HangGliderHistory "Danger" is relative; there is no need to forget fine hang gliders that existed at all stages of the history. An extensive set of hang gliders existed in the late 1960s.
In the '60s and the early '70s many gliders were built that can only be called "extremely dangerous". After that the development, know-how and materials were improved until the first glider came on the market that had all security elements that can still be found today: The "Atlas" (La Mouette, 1978). Then performance increased rapidly. The first true "double surface" glider was the UP "Comet". The first glider without a keel pocket was the Wills Wing "HP" (~1990). In the late 1990s the kingpost on top of the wing was removed to further increase the performance by reducing drag. These gliders are now called "topless gliders". Both topless and kingposted gliders belong to the family of "flex wings", because their frame and sail are a little flexible. This flexibility is required for the weight shift of the pilot to create small differences in the sail's billow, which in turn lets the glider fly to the right or to the left. In parallel the first commercially successful "rigid wing" came on the market (the "Exxtacy") with the leading edge made of carbon fiberCarbon fiber is a strong, light and very expensive material. Generally the term "carbon fiber" is used to refer to carbon filament thread, woven carbon thread cloth. The fiber-epoxy composite made with woven carbon cloth is more properly termed carbon fib, which does not deform at all. The nose angle and wing span is a little higher, and the sail is rather stiff. This generation of gliders is controlled by spoilerIn aeronautics a spoiler (sometimes called a lift dumper is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Commonly found in gliders, it is usually a plate which can be extended upward and/or downward from the wing, extending into the smooth airflow ands typically on top of the wing, while the flex wings are still controlled by weight shift. In both flex- and rigid wings the pilot hangs below the wing without additional fairing except for the harness itself. A third class of hang gliders exists (officially called Sub-Class O-2 by the FAI) where the pilot is integrated into the wing by means of a fairing. This offers the best performance and is the most expensive. All types of gliders can be foot-launched, while landing of some class-2 gliders is only possible on wheels.