Everyday Items That Have Astonishingly Weird Backstories

In the Victorian era, people used to get angry about trains. There was a rumor that the swaying motion of train cars caused people to get a little crazy, especially the guys, which resulted in some unusual and hazardous conduct. The train's noise was said to be the cause of the infamous "Railway Madness". Carriages were closed for privacy concerns back then, which made matters worse: people were imprisoned in cramped quarters with crazy people who might lose it at any time.

When you see someone putting ketchup on their car, it doesn't necessarily imply they're getting ready for a practical joke; it merely implies they're doing routine maintenance. Yes, ketchup pairs well with hot dogs and hamburgers, but it's even better on autos since it contains rust-removal-enhancing chemicals. Metal rusts when it comes into contact with oxygen, heat, and moisture. Because of weather patterns, rust is unavoidable. Rust will continue to erode the metal if you ignore it for an extended period of time. Therefore, you must get rid of it before your car breaks down completely.

Ketchup then becomes useful. Tomatoes, its main ingredient, contain a lot of nutrients that are comparable to those in oranges and other citrus fruits. For example, because citric acid eats through rust, it can help eliminate rust from metal surfaces. Not just automobiles—you can use it on rust stains on almost any metallic object, jewelry, furniture items, and kitchenware made of metal. It works well when mixed with ketchup, but it's not as efficient against rust on its own. You may also mix it with washing soda. Combine the two and dab the corroded area with them. After about 30 minutes, leave it in that state and wipe it down with a damp cloth or sponge. You may also mix ketchup with salt or just slather a generous amount over the rusted area in place of other condiments. Copper and brass tarnish can also be eliminated with ketchup. Apply it to the brass door and cabinet hardware, as well as some accessories like bowls and candlesticks, and let it sit for ten minutes.

The invention of locking handles as we know them now dates back to 1878. Before, securing one's house required some creative thinking. A latch string was typically employed by people who would drill a small hole in the door, insert a leather thong or string through it, and then loop the string around a wooden bar. Even with the invention of door knobs, only the affluent could purchase a good lock and key.

Even vacuum cleaners had a difficult beginning. When the first one was created in 1901, it was too large to fit inside of a house. Vacuuming was instead provided as a mobile service. Long hoses were fed through the windows of the client's residence, where the equipment was parked. In the past, horses were really used to pull these massive cleaning apparatuses. Kids were even pulled in strollers by animals. The first stroller was created in 1733 for a British nobleman's children and sons who could have been a little too indolent to accompany them on daily walks. Essentially, the initial version was a wheeled basket formed like a shell that could be hauled by a tiny pony or goat. Though certainly not the safest mode of transportation, this little chariot was adorable.

A bit frightening also used to be refrigerators. Toxic gasses including ammonia, methyl chloride, and sulfur dioxide were utilized to cool things down from the late 1800s until 1929. People started storing their refrigerators outside rather than in the kitchen because they were worried about gas leaks. Albert Einstein was even motivated to develop a new paradigm by this threat. A refrigerator without any moving parts was created in 1926 by Einstein and his former pupil Leo Szilard. Safer, greener gasses were used to lower the possibility of harmful leakage. However, Einstein's refrigerator had a drawback: its lower efficiency compared to current appliances made it less marketable.

If you ever find yourself aimlessly strolling through an Estonian woodland, don't panic if you come across several enormous megaphones. Students studying interior architecture positioned these enormous wooden acoustic structures three hours away from the nation's capital. I have to confess, that's a lot cooler than the hamster roller coaster I made for a scientific fair once. The woods occupy more than half of Estonia, and the people there are rather proud of their abundant natural resources. Therefore, this is not the first artwork of its kind. A faceted woods lodge and a meandering elevated pathway were also present. The purpose of the megaphones is to allow hikers to take a break and enjoy the sounds of nature. These gorgeous wooden structures can accommodate multiple guests, and believe me, you'll be grateful for this if you venture this far into the forest. The assignment to come up with ideas for a Forest Library was given to the students. The megaphones were constructed off-site and then moved to their permanent locations. They are arranged so that noises emanating from three directions converge in the middle, producing a cool ambient sound impression.

Thank goodness, kitchenware has advanced significantly, especially our cherished barbecues. When striving to make the ideal steak in the 1950s, George Stephen, a metal craftsman, had an epiphany. He ripped an old ocean buoy in two because he was fed up with cooking that was inconsistent and causing flare-ups. Because of his improved ability to regulate the airflow, the Weber kettle grill was created, forever altering backyard cookouts.

Have you ever gotten splashed when using a public restroom in your shorts and sandals during the summer? Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. If only this issue could be solved in some way. Maybe a little hole in the urinal to prevent fluids from spilling into the wrong place? I think that looks painful and disgusting. For this delicate problem, an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo and his associates came up with a far superior approach. Dogs and physics served as inspiration for their designs. A splash is lessened when a liquid stream passes at a shallow angle across a solid surface; the smaller the angle, the fewer splashes you'll observe. Even minimizing them to zero is an option. Dogs use the vertical surfaces of walls or trees to relieve themselves. They do this by lifting their rear legs. Though I'm not sure if that matters to them, this lessens the splash. Fantastic work, Pluto!

In light of that, consider this entertaining task for your upcoming family get-together: assign each member to fold a sheet of paper in half once, then in half again, and so on, for a total of seven folds. Warning: there's a good chance they won't succeed. This is because the paper gets thicker and thicker with each fold. Actually, if you took a large piece of paper and folded it in half fifty times, the result would be a thickness of roughly 62 million miles, or roughly two thirds of the distance between Earth and the Sun. Thus, it is unfeasible. Britney Gallivan, a high school student, now holds the record for folding a single sheet of paper in half the most times, using tissue paper.

The USB symbol, which resembles a trident, has always given rise to numerous theories regarding where it came from. One common interpretation is that it signifies strength and flexibility and is a representation of Neptune's trident. There is, however, a less intriguing theory. According to a man who claimed to have created the symbol in the 1980s, connection was intended to be represented by it. The square, triangle, and circle that are attached represent various outputs, while the huge circle represents a computer.

If you examine the overhead lines of a tram closely, you will notice that the contact wires are not in a straight line; instead, they zigzag back and forth. This is so because pantographs are fixed to the rooftops of every tram. The overhead wire eventually wears down the pantograph's upper section, necessitating replacement. The wire is laid in zigzag patterns rather than strictly following the tram's course in order to wear it down evenly. The pantograph wears down uniformly as it slides down the wire while the tram is in motion.

Those water cooler cups with the cone shape? The purpose of their shape is to keep users from setting the cups down. By doing this, workers can reduce the possibility of water pouring on their workstations near different electronic gadgets. Cone-shaped cups can also be produced with less material, which reduces waste and increases efficiency. By pushing people to drink their water quickly and throw away their cups right away, it also helps the environment in a small way.

Most likely, you are currently wearing a YKK item. Go inspect the zipper on your jeans, please. Yes, that is all. Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, or YKK, is a Japanese firm that produces about 7 billion zippers annually, or over half of all zippers in the world. Before being referred to as hookless fasteners, zippers gained popularity in 1923 when a pair of rubber boots that could be fastened with a single zip became well-known. Because of the high-pitched zip sound they produced when in operation, the term stuck.

Contrary to common belief, household batteries don't genuinely contain liquid, and even if you happen to cut them open by accident, nothing hazardous will pour. The majority of them are electrochemical cell-based dry cell batteries. These change the energy of chemicals into electrical energy. Bigger batteries also frequently contain a lot of tiny cells. Even the batteries in Tesla vehicles are made up of several tiny cells. They readily give the required voltage when combined.

Did you know that in ancient Egypt, nail polish served as a status symbol? While lower-class residents were only permitted to wear pale tints, queens like Cleopatra and Nefertiti were well-known for having red nails.