Ice skates are a lot older than you might think. The oldest ice skates that still exist today come from Sweden, and were made sometime between the years 700 and 900.
But early Swedish writing, dating from around the year 150, mentions ice skates. And some people think that ice skates may have been in use as long ago as 800 B.C.
The earliest skates were simply cow bones fastened to the foot with leather straps. Skates with metal blades didn’t appear until about 500 years ago. But ice skating was already a popular pastime in England, Holland, and other countries by the 12th century!
The record for the longest time ice skating was set by a New Zealander from June 21 to 25, 1977, a record of 109 hours and 5 minutes!
