Richard Knerr, co-founder of Wham-O company best known for the Hula Hoop and Frisbee, has died at the age of 82.Knerr, who started Wham-O in 1948 with his childhood friend Arthur “Spud” Melin, died Monday after suffering a stroke, his wife Dorothy told the Los Angeles Times.


Knerr and Melin got their start in business selling slingshots. They named their enterprise Wham-O after the sound a slingshot made when it hit its target. They branched into other sporting goods, including boomerangs and crossbows, then added toys that often bore such playful names as the Superball, Slip 'N Slide and Silly String. In 1958, Wham-O came up with the Hula Hoop. Around the same time, Wham-O bought the rights to the Frisbee.


Melin died in 2002 at age 77.


Besides his wife, Knerr is survived by three children from a first marriage that ended in divorce, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren.