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People have been throwing cake pans, pie tins, cookie jar lids, and other such objects for centuries. The earliest known disc object to be thrown around was the chakram, which was used as a weapon in ancient India. In later times, flying discs were used for recreational purposes. The clay target used in trapshooting, almost identical to a flying disc in shape, was designed in the 19th century. The modern day era of flying discs began with the concept of designing and selling a commercially-produced flying disc.

In 2006, Fred Morrison co-authored Flat Flip Flies Straight! with flying disc historian and collector Phil Kennedy. In the book Fred reveals that it was a popcorn can lid that he tossed with his girlfriend (and later wife) Lu at a 1937 Thanksgiving Day gathering in Los Angeles, CA that inspired his interest in developing a commercially-produced flying disc. In 1946 he sketched out plans for a disc he called the "Whirlo-Way," which in 1948, co-developed and financed by Warren Franscioni, became the very first plastic flying disc—the original PIPCO FLYIN-SAUCER. However, that disc was largely unsuccessful. In 1955 Fred, with help from Lu, designed and molded a brand new disc— the PLUTO PLATTER — which he then sold to Wham-O on January 23, 1957. In 1958 Wham-O renamed it the "FRISBEE," possibly a misspelling of the name of the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and then trademarked the name Frisbee.