https://blademag.com/knife-history/...8TKxCldVBb3esE1ugBY_vKrGgEfIitsEQ_hAXgNpzXZ08
25 Knife Industry Milestones
1973 Bill Moran reintroduces damascus for knife blades at the Guild Show
1973 The American Blade debuts
1976 Bill Moran, B. R. Hughes, Don Hastings and Bill Bagwell found the American Bladesmith Society
1981 Spyderco debuts the C01 Worker, the first knife with both a blade opening hole and a pocket clip
1981 Michael Walker introduces a folder with the linerlock mechanism
1982 First Blood and Jimmy Lile’s Rambo knife appear in theaters
1983 Michael Walker first uses titanium in the construction of one of his linerlocks
1987 Buster Warenski completes the King Tut dagger reproduction
1988 The Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing opens in Old Washington, Arkansas
1992 Bruce Voyles moves the BLADE Show to the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, where it opens to rave reviews
1990s An explosion in Crucible Particle Metallurgy and the so-called “super steels,” and such materials as carbon fiber, mosaic damascus and more revolutionize knifemaking
1990s Computer numerically controlled equipment, laser cutters and more for knifemaking begin to appear
1990s Internet knife web pages, knife discussion forums, knife instruction videos and more start making their mark
Mid-1990s Tactical folders begin to dominate the custom and factory knife industries
1997 The BLADE Show moves from the Renaissance Waverly Hotel to the adjoining Cobb Galleria Centre and completes its ascendancy as the world’s most important knife event
1990s Chinese companies begin entering the factory knife business
1998 The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), the oldest surviving knife advocacy group, debuts
2001 Terrorists bring down the Twin Towers and the knife industry reacts with a slew of military inspired knives, tomahawks and more
2006 The Knife Rights advocacy group debuts
2009 The knife industry unites to defeat an attempt by U.S. Customs to declare all one-hand-opening knives switchblades/automatics
2010s Social media begins taking the internet knife business to the next level
2010s Knife Rights and AKTI work to overhaul anti-knife legislation, including overturning automatic/switchblade bans and establishing knife preemption laws at the state level
2010s European knife manufacturers such as LionSteel, Fox Cutlery, Maserin and others begin winning more than their share of BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards
2015 Forged in Fire debuts and exposes millions of television viewers to knifemaking and bladesmithing for the first time
2020 The pandemic ravages the world and also the knife world, closing knife shows everywhere—including the BLADE Show
2020s The knife industry survives the pandemic, and, thanks to internet sales, even thrives in some segments—and knife shows begin to return
25 Knife Industry Milestones
1973 Bill Moran reintroduces damascus for knife blades at the Guild Show
1973 The American Blade debuts
1976 Bill Moran, B. R. Hughes, Don Hastings and Bill Bagwell found the American Bladesmith Society
1981 Spyderco debuts the C01 Worker, the first knife with both a blade opening hole and a pocket clip
1981 Michael Walker introduces a folder with the linerlock mechanism
1982 First Blood and Jimmy Lile’s Rambo knife appear in theaters
1983 Michael Walker first uses titanium in the construction of one of his linerlocks
1987 Buster Warenski completes the King Tut dagger reproduction
1988 The Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing opens in Old Washington, Arkansas
1992 Bruce Voyles moves the BLADE Show to the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, where it opens to rave reviews
1990s An explosion in Crucible Particle Metallurgy and the so-called “super steels,” and such materials as carbon fiber, mosaic damascus and more revolutionize knifemaking
1990s Computer numerically controlled equipment, laser cutters and more for knifemaking begin to appear
1990s Internet knife web pages, knife discussion forums, knife instruction videos and more start making their mark
Mid-1990s Tactical folders begin to dominate the custom and factory knife industries
1997 The BLADE Show moves from the Renaissance Waverly Hotel to the adjoining Cobb Galleria Centre and completes its ascendancy as the world’s most important knife event
1990s Chinese companies begin entering the factory knife business
1998 The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), the oldest surviving knife advocacy group, debuts
2001 Terrorists bring down the Twin Towers and the knife industry reacts with a slew of military inspired knives, tomahawks and more
2006 The Knife Rights advocacy group debuts
2009 The knife industry unites to defeat an attempt by U.S. Customs to declare all one-hand-opening knives switchblades/automatics
2010s Social media begins taking the internet knife business to the next level
2010s Knife Rights and AKTI work to overhaul anti-knife legislation, including overturning automatic/switchblade bans and establishing knife preemption laws at the state level
2010s European knife manufacturers such as LionSteel, Fox Cutlery, Maserin and others begin winning more than their share of BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards
2015 Forged in Fire debuts and exposes millions of television viewers to knifemaking and bladesmithing for the first time
2020 The pandemic ravages the world and also the knife world, closing knife shows everywhere—including the BLADE Show
2020s The knife industry survives the pandemic, and, thanks to internet sales, even thrives in some segments—and knife shows begin to return
