Editor's Note: Texas is a great place to fly a kite. From the South Padre Island Kite Festival held each winter to kiteboard sporting all along the Texas coast year round, man and the wind have long enjoyed a relationship in the Lone Star State. But have you ever wondered where and how it all began? Resident historian Steve Hathcock has a good handle on the history of kites. ANd we're happy to share that with you here. Next time you're in the neighborhood of South Padre Island, stop by the Beachcomber's Museum and say "hey" to Steve. He loves to share his tales of history and lore with those with an ear for it. There is some argument among historians as to who actually invented the kite; the concept seems to have sprung up in several societies almost simultaneously, but it was the Chinese who first used the kite for more than ceremonial occasions. In 200 BC General, Han Hsin commanded an army of rebels attempting to dethrone a tyrannical emperor. But the despot and his army seemed invulnerable behind the towering ramparts and stone walls surrounding the capital. Outnumbered and only lightly armed, the rebels needed a decisive victory. Han built a kite and flew it over the city until it hung directly above the palace itself. After measuring the string, Han was able to determine exactly how long a tunnel would be needed to bring the rebel forces within the walls of the palace. Digging by night to escape detection, the rebels finally broke into the undefended courtyard. The surprise was complete and the evil Emperor was overthrown. The Chinese were also the first to send men into the sky. During the Mongol invasion, large kites carried warriors aloft where they would pepper the invaders with arrows. Marco Polo introduced the concept of the kite to Europe when he described how the shipping merchants would tie a man to a huge kite and launch it before the fleet set sail. If the kite went high and straight it meant a quick and prosperous voyage but if it crashed or did not fly well it was a bad omen. No mention was made of the fate of the airborne sailor. Kites served a multitude of purposes in the New World too. In 1848, a group of engineers were speculating on how to stretch a cable across the valley of the Niagara River for a suspension bridge when they observed a little boy flying a kite. Voila! The men built a kite and flew it across the river, landing it on the far shore. They now had a line stretched from one bank of the river to the other. With this light and fragile line they pulled a stronger line, repeating the process until they had pulled the cable across. The Wright Brothers used kites to study how birds fly. They were totally wrong about the mechanics of the flight of birds, but they did use the knowledge gained from kites to build their heavier than air flying machine. In 1901, a kite was used to carry an antenna high over Newfoundland thus producing the first cross Atlantic radio link. In1906, George Lawrence used camera carrying kites to capture a panoramic image of the damage sustained by San Francisco during the great earthquake. For the next eighty years or so, the art of kite flying waxed and waned with each generation. But more recently, and with the invention of new polymers that make kites almost indestructible, the sport has seen an enormous surge in popularity. On South Padre Island there are several shops devoted to Kites and all aspects of the sport. The enthusiast can expect to pay from $12.00 for a simple diamond shaped darter to hundreds of dollars for multi-colored dragons streaming a 50 foot tail.