How High Can Your Independent Agency Jump?

In the early 1800s, the first recorded modern high-jump competition took place in Scotland. In those days, contestants either ran straight at the bar or used a “scissors” technique, and they achieved clearances of up to five feet, six inches.

In 1895, an Irish-American jumper named M.F. Sweeney came up with a new method called the “Eastern Cut-off.” Mr. Sweeneys innovation gave him a distinct competitive advantage, and he cleared a world record height of over six feet, five inches. Improving on Mr. Sweeney, another AmericanM.F. Horinedeveloped the “Western Roll,” a method that dominated the sport through the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Cornelius Johnson of the United States soared past six feet, nine-and-three-quarter inches, besting Mr. Horines six feet, seven inches.