Showing posts with label Products. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Products. Show all posts

During World War II, condoms were used to cover rifle barrels from being damaged by salt water as the soldiers swam to shore

During World War II condoms were not only distributed to male U.S. military members, but enlisted men were also subject to significant contraception propaganda in the form of films, posters, and lectures. A number of slogans were coined by the military, with one film exhorting “Don’t forget — put it on before you put it in.” African-American soldiers, who served in segregated units, were exposed to less of the condom promotion programs, had lower rates of condom usage, and much higher rates of STDs. America’s female military units, the WACs and WAACs, were still engaged with abstinence programs. European and Asian militaries on both sides of the conflict also provided condoms to their troops throughout the war, even Germany which outlawed all civilian use of condoms in 1941. Despite the rubber shortages that occurred during this period, condom manufacturing was never restricted. In part because condoms were readily available, soldiers found a number of non-sexual uses for the devices, many of which continue to be utilized to this day.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yorewhen the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Activities in a fire station include regular inspection and cleaning of the apparatus and equipment, and continuing education in the fire service. Weekly or bi-weekly routine typically includes various drills in which firefighters practice their skills. Some fire companies also host public activities at the fire station during annual “fire prevention week” or similar, and the facility may also be used for fund-raising by the “firemen’s association”, “fire buffs”, or “fire auxiliary”.
The approaches to a fire station are often posted with warning signs, and there may be a traffic signal to stop or warn traffic when apparatus are leaving or returning to the station.
In larger cities fire stations are often named for the primary fire companies and apparatus housed there, such as “Ladder 49″, or the district which they serve. Rural fire stations are usually named for the county, town or village, but may also be named for the independent fire district serving a collective geographic area.

The long fibres that are found in bananas are excellent in making paper. The long fibres that are found in the banana plant can make the banana fibre paper approximately 3000 times stronger than regular paper

It is obtained from an industrialized process, from the stem and the non-utilizable fruits. This paper can be either handmade or made by industrialized machine.
The banana agro-industry processes each 42 million tons of bananas every year (with 20,000 square kilometres planted). As a result of pulling apart the banana bunches from the main stem, there are leftover stems which contain 5% of usable fiber to manufacture paper.

In 1783, the hot air balloon was invented in France.


The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is part of a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Annonay, France, the first untethered manned flight was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes in a hot air balloon created on December 14, 1782 by the Montgolfier brothers. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships.
A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries passengers and (usually) a source of heat, in most cases an open flame. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. As with all aircraft, hot air balloons cannot fly beyond the atmosphere. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the air surrounding. For modern sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the inlet of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex. Beginning during the mid-1970s, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as rocket ships and the shapes of various commercial products, though the traditional shape remains popular for most non-commercial, and many commercial, applications.

The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.


Although the name of the candy bar sounds like the name of the famous baseball player Babe Ruth, the Curtiss Candy Company traditionally claimed that it was named after President Grover Cleveland‘s daughter, Ruth Cleveland. The candy maker, located on the same street as Wrigley Field, named the bar “Baby Ruth” in 1921, as Babe Ruth‘s fame was on the rise, over 30 years after Cleveland had left the White House, and 17 years after his daughter, Ruth, had died. The company did not negotiate an endorsement deal with Ruth, and many saw the company’s story about the origin of the name to be a devious way to avoid having to pay the baseball player any royalties. Curtiss successfully shut down a rival bar that was approved by, and named for, Ruth, on the grounds that the names were too similar.
In the trivia book series Imponderables, David Feldman reports the standard story about the bar being named for Grover Cleveland‘s daughter, with additional information that ties it to the President: “The trademark was patterned exactly after the engraved lettering of the name used on a medallion struck for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, and picturing the President, his wife, and daughter Baby Ruth.” He also cites More Misinformation, by Tom Burnam: “Burnam concluded that the candy bar was named … after the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Williamson, candy makers who developed the original formula and sold it to Curtiss.” (Williamson had also sold the “Oh Henry!” formula to Curtiss around that time.) The writeup goes on to note that marketing the product as being named for a company executive’s granddaughter would likely have been less successful, hence their “official” story.

The Scottish bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep.


The player keeps the bag inflated by blowing air into it through a blowpipe or pumping air into it with a bellows. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials includingGore-Tex have become much more common. Though a drawback of the synthetic bag is the potential for fungal spores to colonise the bag because of reduction in necessary cleaning, with the associated danger of lung infection.
Bags cut from larger materials are usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over the seam and stitched (for skin bags) or glued (for synthetic bags) to reduce leaks. Holes are then cut to accommodate the stocks. In the case of bags made from largely intact animal skins the stocks are typically tied into the points where limbs and the head joined the body of the living animal, a construction technique common in Central and Eastern Europe.