Tag Archives: Invention

Cookie

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Cookie

Do you call it a biscuit or a cookie?

  • Cookies are food items that are made usually by baking a mixture of flour and other ingredients in an oven, and they are commonly eaten as a snack.
  • In Britain and other European countries, ‘cookies’ are typically called ‘biscuits’, while the American versions of ‘biscuits’ are known as ‘scones‘ elsewhere, and the term may also refer to ‘crackers’.
  • The word ‘cookie’ comes from the Dutch word ‘koekje’, meaning ‘little cake’, while ‘biscuit’ comes from the word ‘bescuit’ which means ‘twice cooked’ when translated from Old French.
  • Cookies, or biscuits, were originally used as easily transportable food items, and they were commonly used as a staple food when at sea, especially in the British Royal Navy.
  • Cookies are available in a wide variety of shapes and colours, although they are typically coloured brown, tan or white, and they can be made at home or purchased in supermarkets.

Cookie, Anzac, Golden, Ten Random Facts, Biscuit, Gluten Free, Culinary, Snack, Four, Group, Nice

  • Biscuits, or cookies, were originally baked at least twice, and sometimes more, making them very hard, to increase their durability and to decrease their spoilage properties, and as a result extend their storage life.
  • In 600 AD, the Persian community were making sweeter and softer cookies and biscuits, compared to the original hard, dry and bland versions evident around that time.
  • Cookies are most commonly a rough circular or rectangular shape, often around 5 centimetres (2 inches) across, although they are often made larger or smaller.
  • Butter or oil, sugar, flour, and egg are common ingredients for making modern cookies or biscuits, with fillings and/or coatings common, using foods including chocolate, nuts, fruit and jams.
  • Biscuits were originally often dunked in a hot beverage or other liquid, so that they became soft enough to eat easily, and this practice is not uncommon today, even though modern cookies are generally much softer and only baked once.
Bibliography:
Biscuit, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit
Cookie, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie
Olver L, Food Timeline: cookies, crackers & biscuits, 2015, Food Timeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcookies.html

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Colander

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Colander

The most efficient liquid remover is the colander.

  • A colander is a type of sieve, that is an invention used for culinary purposes, to separate liquid from other food.
  • ‘Colander’ comes from the word ‘colum’, which means ‘strainer’ or ‘sieve’ in Latin, and they are also known as ‘kitchen sieves’, ‘strainers’ and ‘pasta strainers’.
  • Most commonly, colanders are used to strain pasta, and canned items; as well as to rinse or wash vegetables and fruit.
  • Common materials used to make colanders include aluminium, ceramic, plastic, silicone and stainless steel.
  • Generally, colanders are found in the shape of a bowl, that is often deep, and sometimes they have small legs at the base.

Colander, Tupperware, Plastic, White, Black, Deep, Shallow, Culinary, Food, Invention, Ten Random Facts, Strainer

  • Colanders feature many holes or slots at the base for liquid to drain, that can range from small to large in size.
  • Colanders have been used for thousands of years, and specimens have been found that date back to at least 1300 BC.
  • Colanders are typically used over a sink, although a catcher, that is sometimes especially designed and paired with the colander, may be used if liquid flavouring or the like is wanted for other purposes.
  • Care should be taken when draining food via a colander, as steam can rise from boiling or hot liquids, and scald.
  • Colanders have been used by some religious organisations, notably those that ‘worship’ the Flying Spaghetti Monster from the Pastafarianism organisation, as head coverings.
Bibliography:
Colander, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colander
How Did the Colander Get Its Name?, 2012, CulinaryLore.com, http://www.culinarylore.com/food-history:origin-of-word-colander
What is a Colander?, 2015, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-colander.htm

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Street Name

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Street Name

Did you remember that street name?

  • Street names, also known as ‘road names’ or ‘odonyms’, are names that most commonly have two parts, used to identify and classify a street or road.
  • Typically, a street name has a unique or ‘specific’ name, such as ‘Clyde’, as well as a classifying or ‘generic’ name, such as ‘Street’.
  • Street names may include a direction in the name, such as ‘north’, often used to describe separate parts of the street.
  • Commonly, the specific part of street names originates from notable people’s surnames, vegetation, natural items or numbers.
  • A single road may receive multiple street names, commonly referring to the same street within two different areas, sections or boundaries.

Street Name, Sign Post, Luck Street, Australia, Multi, Sky, Up, Ten Random Facts, Odonym, Invention

  • Occasionally, highways and main streets are left unnamed, but instead are referred to by a number.
  • Common classifications of street names include drives, roads, streets, avenues, lanes, highways, boulevards, courts, crescents, freeways and expressways.
  • Street names are typically presented on a sign, known as a ‘street sign’, at the intersections, and the signs may be colour coded, as a further identifier.
  • The generic part of a street name generally refers to the size, shape, function, or surrounding geography of the road.
  • Sometimes streets are renamed, and this can be for a variety of different reasons, from political to language changes, or a negative association.
Bibliography:
History of Street Names and Street Naming in North America, 2009, Potifos, http://potifos.com/streetname.html
Soniak M, What’s the Difference Between a Street and a Road?, 2012, Mental Floss, http://mentalfloss.com/article/30020/whats-difference-between-street-and-road
Street or Road Name, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_or_road_name

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Ballot

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Ballot

Did you remember to complete your ballot paper?

  • Ballots are items used in elections to perform confidential voting in a public environment, and are a common way to choose a government and other leaders.
  • A ‘ballot’ is also known as a ‘ballot paper’ and the term can also refer to the act of voting.
  • Ballots are generally in the form of paper slips, or in electronic form, while small white and black balls were historically used.
  • The ancient Greeks wrote names on broken ceramics, called ‘ostraca’, and the pieces were used like a ballot to privately banish someone from a town, hence the term ‘ostracised’; while in India, they used palm leaves to elect assemblies, from the tenth century AD.
  • Ballots may involve choosing candidates by preference, or choosing a single party or person, and the process varies in different organisations, states and countries.

Ballot paper, Australia, Box, Paper, Slip, Rectangle, Three, Parties

  • Romans began using a secret ballot system in 139 BC, via a writing tablet or document; while it is said that the first time Americans cast a vote using paper was in 1629.
  • Ballots can require the writing of specific names, marking boxes, entering data using a machine, or entering information via the internet.
  • Ballot papers, especially in government elections, are often submitted into a box that is located at a polling location.
  • The term ‘ballot’ originates from Italy’s Venice, in Europe, from the words ‘ballotta’ and ‘pallotte’, meaning ‘small ball used for voting’ when translated from Italian.
  • Each submitted ballot paper in government elections is usually checked, to see if it is a ‘formal’ or valid vote, or ‘informal’ or invalid vote, because ‘informal’ votes, those with insufficient or incorrect markings, are disqualified from being counted.
Bibliography:
Fact Sheet – Ballot Papers, 2015, Elections ACT, http://www.elections.act.gov.au/education/act_electoral_commission_fact_sheets/fact_sheets_-_general_html/elections_act_factsheet_ballot_papers
Ballot, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot

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Basket

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Basket

Have you looked inside the wicker basket recently?

  • Baskets are receptacles used for the primary purpose of storing objects, or for holding objects so that they can be easily moved.
  • Baskets are typically woven, and can range from an open-weave form to a solid-walled structure, and materials commonly used include leaves, grass, wicker, cane, wood, straw, bamboo, plastic, metal and horse hair.
  • Many baskets can be woven with an attached or removable lid, or often they have no lid at all.
  • Baskets can be used ornamentally; in cooking; as a trap; for holding laundry; as a rattle; and they are also sometimes used for traditional religious purposes.
  • Baskets were originally intended for carrying loose items so that that could easily be transported.

Basket, Brown, Wicker, Ten Random Facts, Two, Assortment, Size, Large, Handles, invention

  • The first baskets were said to be originally short-lived because they were made of bark; and the containers were later supported with woven fibres to further extend their use.
  • Baskets have been in use for thousands of years and the remains of well preserved baskets have been discovered from possibly as early as 5000 BC.
  • Baskets can come in numerous varieties of shapes, sizes, colours and patterns and they can range from 0.6 to 90 centimetres (0.24 to 35.4 inches) in diameter, or more; and in many circumstances they can be considered to be an art.
  • Baskets may feature handles for ease of carrying with one’s hands, and some can be placed on one’s head to carry, which is a common traditional practice.
  • Nearly every ancient culture has made an abundance of baskets throughout history, including Egyptian, Chinese, Roman, Greek, Japanese, and Native American, while the latter are particularly well known for their baskets.
Bibliography:
Basket, 2015, Made How, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Basket.html
Basket, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket

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Pool Noodle

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Pool Noodle

Pool noodles… a toy for the pool.

  • Pool noodles are lightweight inventions for use in water for both play and supportive purposes.
  • ‘Pool noodles’ are also known as ‘water logs’, ‘woggles’, ‘noodles’ and ‘water woggles’.
  • Pool noodles are made of foam, most often polyethylene based; and they are often flexible enough to be bent, and they float in water.
  • Pool noodles are often hollow, which can allow for several to be connected together, using specified objects.
  • The standard length of a pool noodle is approximately 160 centimetres (5.25 feet), and as it is cylindrical in shape, the diameter is 7 centimetres (2.7 inches).

Pool Noodle, Float, Water, Woggles, Colourful, Assortment, Invention, Hollow, Four, Foam, Ten Random Facts, Blue, Green, Purple, Yellow

  • Due to the invention’s buoyancy, pool noodles are commonly used as flotation support in water, often when the user cannot swim, however they are not to be used without supervision, as they are not a life saving device and are classified as a ‘toy’.
  • Pool noodles are believed to have been first made and invented by Steve Hartman from Industrial Thermal Polymers in Canada’s Ontario, in the early 1980s, however Rick Koster from the same province in Canada, also claims to have been the first to have invented the toy, around the same time, although neither patented the invention.
  • Pipes can be surrounded with a pool noodle as a cheap, but practical insulator; and they have also been used as part of yard games and other purposes.
  • Pool noodles have their origins as backer rods, that fill gaps in building constructions, but they were soon adapted for use as a toy in the pool, by adding colour, and they are now available in a wide variety of bright colours, that are easily spotted in water.
  • The terms ‘water woggle’ and ‘pool noodle’ are derived from some of the first brands, ‘Water Woggle’ and ‘FunNoodle’ respectively.

 

Bibliography:
Osborne R, Uncovering the History of the Pool Noodle : Meet the Inventor, 2012, Water Crunch, http://watercrunch.com/2012/08++++/pool_noodle/
Pool Noodle, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_noodle

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