For this week’s feature of Throwback Thursday, we take a look at things that tech writers from another century would have written about; inventions that we now take for granted as it seeps into our mediocre daily lives.
1. Nails and screws
You’ll find a lot of household objects falling apart today without these two very important inventions, which we can date back to the Roman age and beyond. The first screw and nail factory was opened in 1700s. Until around 1800s, there are artisans known as nailers or nailors who made nails by hand. Today, they are common fasteners with widespread use in all imaginable industries. Whatever your need to stick together, chances are, you’re going to use nuts or screws.
2. The Refrigerator
We have seen Asian movies like The Grand Heist and American movies like A Million Ways to Die in the West, which show how valuable ice was back in those days- more valuable perhaps than gold.
We have always taken for granted the fact that we can preserve food in this giant block of ice compartment called the refrigerator. People used to have to find other ways to make food last longer or eat their food right away. Thanks to Jacob Perkins, we can now keep food inside the fridge until it rots before we throw it away.
3. Zippers
Without this not-at-all insignificant invention, we won’t have those heart-throbbing movie scenes where the actress asked the swarthy male lead to zip up her tight-fitting dress while exposing her bare back to the audience.
We have Elias Howe to thank for inventing the zippers, which was called the ‘Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure’ when he invented it in 1851. Now, there’s simply no replacement for it- velcros are hardly a practical clothing fastener and buttons just take too much time and effort.
4. Glasses
Wearing glasses around your eyes has been around for a long time with the Chinese accessorising smoky quartz sunglasses and fancy snow glasses. However, it was the Italians in the early Renaissance era who really figured out the convex and concave adjustments that correct people’s eyesights.
From wearing them on one eye to bifocals, this invention has changed and saved lives ever since, enabling people with troubled eyesights to drive, read, match outfit, avoid bumping into people and trees while walking and not squint at everything and everyone all the time.
5. Photocopier
The first ever photocopier is the Xerox machine, invented by Chester Carlson and produced in 1949 by Haloid Corporation, later changed to Xerox Corporation. Before xerograhic was available, making photo direct copies are expensive. Xerox machines and its variations today gave us a cheaper alternative so that we make dozens of copies of our butt and face in the office.
6. Flush toilet
Ever considered how terrible your life would be if this contraption was never created? Your liquid waste would be floating around in something very much like chamber pots and collect them until they’re full before throwing them out on the streets or nearby body of water. Imagine the scene from Slumdog Millionaire.
It wasn’t until 1596 that Sir John Harington created a flushing mechanism which carry away our excrements and make our lives a lot less disgusting. Now, we even have a toilet that wash your own bottom for you.
7. Toilet Paper
This is another invention that change our toilets forever. China was the first to use paper as wipes after doing their no.2 in the 2nd century BC. Elsewhere, if you’re not rich or a royalty, you probably had to use leaves, grass, stone or hands and water.
Today, more than 7 billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the US alone.
8. Keys
With so many security technologies today, none could completely replace the use of keys yet. Some luxurious condominums may have password protected doors, while a lot of companies have fingerprint or card-accessible offices. However, most of them still uses bolt and keys as a second layer of security.
9. Wheels
Historians are not entirely sure who invented the wheels but the use in Eurasia was more prevalent and widespread than it was in the Americas. Wheels have contributed not only to the creation of many forms of vehicle but also for any machines that use gears and pulley systems.
10. Light Bulb
We have a lot to thank Thomas Edison for. One of which is for inventing the light bulb which has enlightened our nights ever since. Together with Joseph Swan, the two formed a company called Ediswan and produced light bulbs which transmitted electricity through a wire of high resistance a.k.a filament. The waste energy the resistance created is expelled as heat and light.
