Do you know that…

Adhesives
People probably always wanted to stick things together, but the first glue was invented about 1750. It was made of fish. Superglue was invented by accident in 1942. There was some research done in the Kodak company to find a new substance and when cynoacrylate (this is what Super Glue basically is) was discovered, the researchers decided it was too sticky for their purpose! They forgot about the sticky substance, but it was rediscovered later. There is also a funny story about the adhesive tape. It was invented by a banjo playing engineer, and when the production was about to start, it was checked how much adhesive was actually needed to make it sticky enough. The inventor, not satisfied with the result, shouted: “Take it to these Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!” So the taped is called Scotch!

Alarm Clocks
A prototype of an alarm clock was invented by the Greeks in 250 BC. It was a water clock where raising waters would tell the time. Eventually the water hit a mechanical bird which produced an alarming whistle. The first mechanical alarm clock was invented in 1787. The funnies thing was that the clock could ring only at 4 a.m. Almost a hundred years had passed before a clock to be set for any time was invented in 1876.

Washing machine
The first machine to use a drum was produced in 1851, but it was still hand-powered. Different people created different models of washing machines in the 19th century. The first rotary washing machine was produced in 1858, and a man in Indiana built another washing ma­chine as a birthday present for his wife! At the beginning of the 20th century the first models of electricity – powered washing machines were produced (some had wooden tubs!). The automatic washing machine was produced rather late – in 1951.

Baby carriage
The first baby carriage was invented in 1733 by an English architect William Kent for the 3rd Duke of Devonsire’s children. Then a lot of models were produced. They were sometimes really big, with space for a few children and some necessary things! There were also some very interesting models: like a carriage to be transformed into a baby bath tub, or a model powered by the baby itself, who was supposed to sit up and lie down to move the carriage!

Sewing machine
The history of sewing machines is quite complicated, they started to be built and patented in the middle of the 18th century. When a French tailor Thimonnier produced a working model in 1830, a group of French tailors, afraid of the future unemployment, nearly killed him!

Vacuum cleaner
The first patents for vacuum cleaners appeared at the end of the 19th century. In 1901 it was a large, horseA-drawn petrol-driven sweeping machine, which had to be parked outside the building! There was also a machine installed in the cellar, with a system of pipes leading to each room of the house. There were also hand-pumped machines operated by two people: one person pumping, the other collecting the dust!