classrooms and public events. History Blind people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries. In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.<ref>'Mobility of Visually Impaired People: Fundamentals and ICT Assistive Technologies p. 363</ref> In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people. On February 7, 1931, Guilly d'Herbemont symbolically gave the first two white canes to blind people, in the presence of several French ministers. 5,000 more white canes were later sent to blind French veterans from World War I and blind civilians. The first special white cane ordinance was passed in December 1930 in Peoria, Illinois, granting blind pedestrians protections and the right-of-way while carrying a white cane. The long cane was improved upon by World War II veterans rehabilitation specialist, Richard E. Hoover, at Valley Forge Army Hospital. In 1944, he took the Lions Club white cane (originally made of wood) and went around the hospital blindfolded for a week. During this time he developed what is now the standard method of "long cane" training or the Hoover Method. He is now called the "Father of the Lightweight Long Cane Technique". The basic technique is to swing the cane from the center of the body back and forth before the feet. The cane should be swept before the rear foot as the person steps. Before he taught other rehabilitators, or "orientors", his new technique he had a special commission to have light weight, long white canes made for the veterans of the European fronts. On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of the Congress, HR 753, was signed into law authorizing the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as "White Cane Safety Day". President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation. Legislation about canes While the white cane is commonly accepted as a "symbol of blindness", different countries still have different rules concerning what constitutes a "cane for the blind". In the United Kingdom, the white cane indicates that the individual has a visual impairment but normal hearing; with red bands added, it indicates that the user is deafblind. In the United States, laws vary from state to state, but in all cases, those carrying white