Kites have existed for at least 2,000 years and are believed to have originated in Asia. Back then, they were made of silk or paper, with silk string and bamboo spars. But kites did not start out as toys or decorative elements. According to legend, General Han Hsin of China used a kite to scare off the enemy soldiers, resulting in his overthrowing an oppressive emperor in 200 BC. Kites were also used by the Normans in 1066 for signalling during the Battle of Hastings and by Scottish scientists from 1749 until the early 1930s to obtain weather data.