The Frisbie Baking Company (1871-1958) of Bridgeport, Connecticut, made pies that were sold to many New England colleges. Hungry college students soon discovered that the empty pie tins could be tossed and caught, providing endless hours of game and sport. Many colleges have claimed to be the home of 'he who was first to fling.' Yale College has even argued that in 1820, a Yale undergraduate named Elihu Frisbie grabbed a passing collection tray from the chapel and flung it out into the campus, thereby becoming the true inventor of the Frisbie and winning glory for Yale. That tale is unlikely to be true since the words 'Frisbie's Pies' was embossed in all the original pie tins and from the word 'Frisbie' was coined the common name for the toy. 
In 1948, a Los Angeles building inspector named Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the Frisbie that could fly further and with better accuracy than a tin pie plate. Morrison's father was also an inventor, who invented the automotive sealed-beam headlight. Another interesting tidbit was that Morrison had just returned to America after World War II, where he had been a prisoner in the infamous Stalag 13. His partnership with Warren Franscioni, who was also a war veteran, ended before their product had achieved any real success.Morrison (after his split with Franscioni) produced a plastic Frisbie called the Pluto Platter, to cash in on the growing popularity of UFOs with the American public. The Pluto Platter has become the basic design for all Frisbies. The outer third of the Frisbie disc is called the 'Morrison Slope', listed in the patent. Rich Knerr and A.K. 'Spud' Melin were the owners of a new toy company called 'Wham-O'. Knerr and Melin also marketed the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball and the Water Wiggle. They pair first saw Morrison's Pluto Platter in late 1955. They liked what they saw and convinced Morrison to sell them the rights to his design. With a deal signed, Wham-O began production (1/13/1957) of more Pluto Platters. The next year, the original Frisbie Baking Company shut down and coincidentally Fred Morrison was awarded a patent (Design patent 183,626) for his flying disc. Morrison received over one million dollars in royalties for his invention.
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The word 'Frisbee' is pronounced the same as the word 'Frisbie'. Rich Knerr (Wham-O) was in search of a catchy new name to help increase sales, after hearing about the original use of the terms 'Frisbie' and 'Frisbie-ing'. He borrowed from the two words to create the registered trademark Frisbee ®. Sales soared for the toy, due to Wham-O's clever marketing of Frisbee playing as a new sport. In 1964, the first professional model went on sale. Ed Headrick was the inventor at Wham-O who patented Wham-O's designs for the modern frisbee (U.S. patent 3,359,678). Ed Headrick's frisbee with its band of raised ridges called the Rings of Headrick had stablized flight as opposed to the wobbly flight of its predecessor the Pluto Platter.
In 1967, high school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate Frisbee, a recognized sport that is a cross between football, soccer and basketball. Ten years later, a form of Frisbee golf was introduced, complete with professional playing courses and associations.
Random Frisbee facts:
In 1968, the U.S. Navy spent almost $400,000 to study Frisbees in wind tunnels, following their flights with computers and cameras, and building a special Frisbee-launching machine on top of a Utah cliff to test a prototype flare launcher.
Today the fifty year old Frisbee® is owned by Mattel Toy Manufacturers, only one of at least sixty manufacturers of flying discs. Wham-O sold over one hundred million units before the selling the toy to Mattel.
Ed Headrick, owner of the Disc Golf Association, Inc.® founded the game of Disc Golf in 1976. The sport is played by an estimated two million recreational players in the United States.
More than approximately 200 million Frisbees have been purchased in the last 50 years, more than baseballs, footballs, and basketballs combined.
In Lake Linden, Michigan you will find The International Frisbee Hall of Fame.
Wham-O went on to market the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball, the Water Wiggle, and other toys, but Frisbee remained its most profitable product.
Flying discs made before 1964 are considered antiques by collectors.
The world group marathon record for Frisbee play is 1,198 hours – nearly 45 days! The record for continual play with two people is 126 hours.
By 1970, Frisbee discs had become so popular on college campuses that some schools began offering flying disc courses to students.
The first intercollegiate game of Ultimate was played in 1972 between Princeton and Rutgers. Rutgers won by the same two–goal margin as it did when it beat Princeton on the same field in the first college football game 103 years before.
The granddaddy of all FRISBEE sports is Guts, usually played with five players to a side. The name "Guts" came from an alleged pastime of Princeton students who tossed a six–inch circular saw blade instead of the plastic FRISBEE disc now used.
There are more than 700 Disc Golf courses in the U.S. These courses are permanent installations, usually located in a public park, where players actually "drive" and "putt" with specially styled discs.
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is located in Sweden. There are 26 member countries.
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Other games related to the flying disc:
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