Category Archives: Inventions

Skewers are really ancient inventions.

• Skewers are long, thin utensils, or sticks, most often used to hold food items, and they usually have at least one pointed end so that food can be easily slid on to the utensil.
• Skewers are commonly used to cook small pieces of food on, especially in barbecues, and meat and/or vegetables are common ingredients to make items like kebabs, yakitori and other food dishes.
• Skewers have been used for centuries, and while their origins are uncertain, they were likely to be sticks of wood that were used to cook meat over an open fire.
• Fresh fruit and other food items are sometimes served on skewers, and small decorative ones may be used for ornamental purposes in beverages.
• Wooden skewers should be soaked in water for 30 minutes to an hour, before being placed over a heat source, as this helps to prevent the burning of the wood.

• Skewers have been used prominently throughout history in the cuisine of Asia’s Japan, Europe’s Greece, the Pacific islands and also Turkey in the Middle East.
• Skewers come in a range of sizes, colours and shapes, and are typically made of stainless steel, wood like bamboo, and sometimes glass.
• Some skewers, like twigs of rosemary, are pleasantly scented and the aroma permeates the cooked food.
• When cooking on skewers, it is a good idea for food items to be placed with a small gap between each piece, to allow for each item to be cooked evenly, and each stick should contain items that cook at the same rate to prevent burning of some, and under-cooking of others.
• Skewers are often used at market stalls or public events to serve food, as the food is easily handled and portable, making it good for takeaway purposes.

Bibliography:
History of the Skewer – Origins and Invention of Skewers, n.d, Eating Utensils, http://www.eatingutensils.net/history-of-other-eating-utensils/skewer-history/

Kelley P, What are Skewers?, 2014,eHow, http://www.ehow.com/info_8242571_skewers.html

Skewer, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skewer

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Correction fluid has ensured these facts are correct.

• Correction fluid is a liquid mixture used on text surfaces like paper, to cover mistakes in text, and it can be written on after drying.
• ‘Correction fluid’ is also known as ‘liquid paper’, ‘white-out’ and ‘white away’, which are all names derived from popular fluid brands.
• Correction fluids are typically coloured white, to match the traditional colour of paper, which is white.
• Correction fluids are most often bought in bottles, and the fluid is applied by a brush or dabber, or flows through a ball point, although correction tape is also available and has the added advantage of being able to correct mistakes immediately, without having to wait for it to dry.
• Correction fluids were commonly used throughout the age of typewriters, but the fluid is less prominently used today due to the use of computers and being able to correct mistakes before printing.

• Correction fluids can be dangerous when swallowed or inhaled, due to its chemical content, which can be fatal.
• Some solvents in correction fluids may eventually escape the mixture causing the fluids to solidify, which can become reliquefied by adding a thinner.
• To prevent inhaling, some correction fluid manufacturers include foul odours in their fluids.
• Correction fluid was invented in the 1950s by the notable American secretary Bette Graham, who got the idea to use water-based tempera paint to cover mistakes, as an artist would, on typed documents.
• The first correction fluid invented was called ‘Mistake Out’, which later had a name change to ‘Liquid Paper’.

Bibliography: Correction Fluid, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_fluid

What is correction fluid?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-correction-fluid.htm

These facts are the start of your vexillology course – the study of flags.

• Flags are thin, lightweight, and usually flat objects, typically used for symbolic, ornamental, religious and communication purposes.
• Flags are most often shaped as quadrilaterals, specifically rectangles, although the shape varies, such as Nepal’s stacked triangular flag.
• Those who study flags are named ‘vexillologists’, while the study of them is termed ‘vexillology’.
• Flags are typically produced with a symbolic design and/or colours, and red, white, yellow and green are the most commonly used colours.
• Flags come in a large range of sizes and can have various uses, and are most notably used as a symbol for a republic, state or country, as well as an organisation.

• Flags are important devices for ships and other water vehicles, as they are used for courtesy, symbolism and signalling, especially when visiting foreign waters.
• When produced, fabric flags are typically dyed throughout the material, which will create a mirror image on the back of the flag.
• In December 2013, the Arab State of Qatar in the Middle East won the world record for the largest flag by size, measuring 101,978 square metres (25.2 acres or 10.2 hectares), and it was later used to make school bags for at least 200,000 needy children around the world.
• Flags are most commonly made from fabric, although sometimes they are made from plastic for inexpensive, short term uses, especially for organised celebrations that involve large crowds of people.
• When flapping in the wind, flags can imitate the motions of ocean waves, and they are most commonly hung horizontally, generally on flagpoles, but they can be hung vertically, although small disposable flags have a stick attached and can be held in one’s hand.

Bibliography:
Flag, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag

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Chop, chop on the chopping board!

• Chopping boards are robust platforms used for cutting objects with a sharp tool, to prevent damage to the bench or table surface.
• Chopping boards are most commonly used in a culinary environment, for chopping food, but they can be used to cut materials such as plastic.
• Chopping boards are most commonly made of wood or plastic, but can be made of rubber, metal, glass or marble.
• Chopping boards should be sturdy but relatively soft, unlike glass, marble or metal, so the cutting object is not damaged.
• Serrated cutting knives damage chopping boards easier than smooth cutting knives.

• Throughout history, wood was most likely used like modern chopping boards, to cut meat on, and wood is good choice of material for this purpose, as it tends to eliminate bacteria due to its antiseptic characteristics.
• Chopping boards range in a variety of hardness, thickness, size and colour, but are often rectangular in shape.
• Chopping boards sometimes use colour coordination to determine food used on the board, to prevent cross-contamination.
• Chopping boards should be examined for wear regularly, particular for cracks or cuts, which can hold bacteria or cause knives to become blunt.
• Modern chopping boards are said to originate from the idea of butcher’s blocks of the 1880s, which were used for the purpose of cutting meat.

Bibliography:
Cutting Board, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board

History of Cutting Boards, 2011, Cutting Board Care, http://cuttingboards.creatingyourperfecthome.com/2011/04/26/history-of-cutting-boards-2/

With the old and improved lighter, you will always have a flame.

• Lighters are small mechanical items used to create a small flame, and have been available in various forms since the 1820s.
• Lighters usually have a small canister that is made of metal or plastic, that contains a flammable liquid or liquid gas.
• The first mechanical device used for lighting, technically a lighter, was a flintlock pistol filled with gunpowder.
• The metal substance used in many modern lighters is ferrocerium, originally a combination of cerium and iron that was made for the purpose of creating sparks, and was first patented in 1903 by Carl Auer Von Welsbach, an Austrian scientist.
• The majority of lighters are manufactured in Thailand and China, both in Asia.

• Lighters produce a flame by ejecting a flammable compound which ignites due to a spark.
• Up until the 1950s, the most common fuel used in lighters was naphtha, however butane became more popular and commonly replaced naphtha due to the reduced odour of butane and increased flame control.
• In many countries it is illegal to target lighters towards children, as they are a fire hazard and can cause death in children.
• Lighters are most commonly shaped like a rectangular prism, although some have long necks so that the flame can be positioned into a hard to reach area.
• Disposable lighters are the most commonly available and were invented in the 1960s, and quickly became very popular.

Bibliography:
Dutton F, A Brief History of Matches and Lighters, 2011, Vintage Cigarette Lighters, http://www.toledo-bend.com/VCL/articles/index.asp?request=lighterHistory

Lighter, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter

Lighters were invented before the match, 2011, Today I Found Out, http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/10/lighters-were-invented-before-the-match/

Hole punch your way with these facts.

• Hole punches are devices used to make holes, typically in thin objects such as paper.
• ‘Hole punches’ are also known as ‘paper punchers’, ‘holing pincers’, ‘hole makers’, ‘hole punchers’ and ‘perforators’.
• Hole punches typically used hand-powered lever mechanics to push a cylinder shaped blade or cutter into the object.
• Hole punches can have one to eight cutters in the one tool, to punch all the holes needed at one time.
• Some hole punches use drilling mechanisms to cut holes in paper.

• Hole punches were most likely invented in the second half of the 1800s, and an 1885 patent exists for a two hole punch, which was an improvement on punches, by American John Laney, in United State’s Indiana in Pennsylvania, which he invented for the purpose of filing papers.
• Hole punches are most commonly used in office workplaces for punching holes in documents for binding, although there are variety of hole shaped punches used for other purposes including leatherwork.
• Hole punches are most commonly made of metal, and they often have plastic components and casings, as well as a catcher to catch the ‘chads’ – the scrap circles.
• Hole punches are sometimes adjustable, meaning that the cutters can be moved along a rod so that holes can be punched in various positions.
• Hole punches come in a wide range of colours and sizes, and the blade can be small cylinder that will punch small holes, or it can be shaped like a star, heart, flower or other small shape.

Bibliography:
Eblin J, History of the Hole Puncher, 2014, EHow, http://www.ehow.com/about_5191932_history-hole-puncher.html

Hole punch, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hole_punch