This summer, at least where I’m living, the heat is hard and the rain is harder. I don’t know why we can just have a nice soft rain, it feels like an act of personal revenge coming from the sky. So lately, when rain is announced, you better be ready if you have to go outside. Of course, it’s not something new. And thinking about that made me curious:
Who Created the Umbrella?
As I’m realizing while writing articles for this website, like a lot of objects we are using in our day-to-day life, the umbrella finds its origins in ancient civilizations. Back then though, they were primarly used as sun protection, known as parasols.
The term “parasol” originates from the Latin words “para,” meaning to shield, and “sol,” meaning sun. Parasols were primarily designed to shield individuals from the sun’s rays rather than provide protection from rain.
1924 India Umbrella Ad
On the other hand, the umbrella came into existence as a rain protection device. It clearly evolved from the parasol concept and originated in ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China. These early umbrellas featured canopies made from materials such as palm leaves, feathers, or silk, supported by a framework composed of wood or metal.
As far as we know, the earliest known parasols in Ancient Egyptian appeared around the time of the Fifth Dynasty, around 2450 BC. It’s possible that the concept is even older.
Umbrellas Vs. Parasols
While umbrellas and parasols share a similar purpose of providing protection from the elements, they possess distinct characteristics and functionalities.
The Umbrellas are designed specifically for rain protection. They feature a waterproof canopy and a sturdy frame, which may be collapsible for easy portability. Umbrellas are typically made from materials such as nylon, polyester, or Pongee fabric. They are equipped with a handle and a shaft, allowing users to hold them above their heads to shield against raindrops.
As their name suggests, Parasolsare primarily intended for sun protection. They feature canopies made of light, breathable materials like silk or cotton. Parasols are designed to block the sun’s rays and provide shade, helping individuals avoid excessive heat and sunburn.
Historical records suggest that collapsible umbrellas were first introduced in China around the 11th century BC. These early umbrellas featured a folding mechanism, with frames made of bamboo and canopies made of flexible silk. The folding design enhanced portability and convenience, making umbrellas accessible to a broader range of individuals.
During the Middle Ages, umbrellas found their way into European societies and were apparently primarily associated with religious ceremonies. Umbrellas adorned with religious symbols were carried by clergymen during processions, symbolizing divine protection. However, it wasn’t until the 16th century that umbrellas gained prominence as practical rain shields.
In fact, it was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that the use of the umbrella in France and England became noticeable. That may be a strong word, as it really took years for the umbrella to be adopted by the leading European countries. The word “umbrella” was only added to the French dictionary (I mean, the word “parapluie,” of course) in 1718.
1920s France La Vie Parisienne Magazine Poster (source)
The Industrial Revolution was an important turning point in the evolution of umbrella production. Steel and waterproof textiles became more commonly available, which enabled the development of more resilient umbrellas. Allowing for simple opening and closing procedures, collapsible umbrellas with telescopic shafts were introduced.
In 1852, an English inventor named Samuel Fox patented the use of steel ribs and stretchers in umbrella construction. This breakthrough revolutionized umbrella durability and resistance to strong winds, ensuring their reliability even in adverse weather conditions.
Today, umbrellas are obviously crafted from a variety of modern materials, including fiberglass, carbon fiber, and high-density polyester, that offer enhanced durability, strength, and resistance to wind, making modern umbrellas more reliable than ever.
If you watch the Steven Soderbergh-directed TV show The Knick, you’re probably familiar with how much things changed in the medical field since the early 1900s: a lot! It’s sometimes hard to believe how much progress has been accomplished in a century, but also how long some discoveries were made. I personally was surprised to read that I’m as old as the first implantation of an artificial heart. I would have thought that it was a more recent breakthrough.
Who Created the Artificial Heart?
In 1937, Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov who at that time was still a 4th year student implanted an artificial heart into a dog, marking one of the earliest attempts at creating an artificial heart—the apparatus was able to maintain the circulation in a dog with an excised heart for five hours and a half. The device consisted of two adjacent diaphragm pumps working as two cardiac ventricles and its size was almost identical to that of the native dog’s heart.
Nowadays, people talk about renewable energies like they will fix everything. They will not, but I’m still interested in the subject, as my house is being renovated (I talked about that in the article about the invention of adhesive tape) and I got rid of the Gas heater. Instead, I will only use electricity and I’m thinking about installing solar panels to help with that. This led me to search for:
Who Created Solar Panels?
First of all, a solar panel is “a device that changes energy from the sun into electricity” (the simple definition given to us by the Cambridge Dictionary). But a solar panel is primarily a battery of solar cells.
It’s cold outside and the need to blow my nose increased visibly with the drop in temperature. I’m probably not alone, taking a walk, blowing my nose here and there, especially with the face masks. Winter is harsh. But…
Who Created Kleenex?
First things first, I’m saying Kleenex, but it’s one of those “brand name instead of product name” cases. When I’m talking Kleenex, I’m really talking about facial tissue (or paper tissue), soft, absorbent, disposable papers quite useful for the expulsion of nasal mucus from the nose.
It seems that more people ask “who invented electricity?” than “who discovered electricity?” There’s a difference between inventing and discovering, but there’s also a difference between discovering the existence of electricity and the invention of technic to produce it.
What is electricity?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines electricity this way:
a fundamental form of energy observable in positive and negative forms that occurs naturally (as in lightning) or is produced (as in a generator) and that is expressed in terms of the movement and interaction of electrons.
a science that deals with the phenomena and laws of electricity
Who discovered electricity?
The best way is to begin with the natural occurrence of electricity. In that domain, the Greeks seem to take the first place (not Benjamin Franklin, he’ll come way later in history). In fact, the word “electricity” comes from the Greek elektron which means “amber,” because they rubbed amber with fur and observed the attraction of feathers and other objects. That was the discovery of static electricity—this phenomenon was not perceived as connected to the electric current until the 19th century.
It was in about 600 BC. With time, researchers and archeologists discovered what they believe may have been ancient batteries meant to produce light at ancient Roman sites, but also in archeological digs leading to Persians artefacts.
Who invented electricity?
The famous Ben Franklin’s kite experiment—with a kite, a key, and a storm—occurred in 1752. It proved that lightning and electric sparks were connected. But it didn’t lead to the use of the word “electricity.’ That came even before. English physician William Gilbert used the Latin word ‘electricus’ in the year 1600 to describe the product of that first Greek experiment. And a few years later, another English scientist, Thomas Browne, used the word ‘electricity’ in a paper in which he talked about his research based on William Gilbert’s work. That said, Franklin’s work inspired a lot of Europeans.
Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (1816)
English scientists were really dedicated to exploring the possibilities of electricity. In the early 1700s, Francis Hauksbee invented the first electrostatic generator based on German scientist Otto von Guericke’s invention—it was a primitive form of the frictional electrical machine. But it’s another discussion, one about lamps.
Francis Hauksbee was a member of The Royal Society—formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge—as was William Nicholson who, with surgeon Anthony Carlisle, discovered electrolysis in May 1800, the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen by voltaic current. This led Italian physicist and chemist Alessandro Volta to the discovery of the voltaic pile, a battery. That’s why batteries are rated in volts.
Englishman Michael Faraday is also famous for the construction of a voltaic pile, one with seven British halfpenny coins stacked together with seven disks of sheet zinc, and six pieces of paper moistened with salt water—as it was learned in 1812. A few years later, in 1821, after the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetism, Faraday built devices to produce what he called ‘electromagnetic rotation’—one of these is known as the homopolar motor, and helped build the foundation of modern electromagnetic technology. These discoveries can’t all be credited to Faraday though. He based his work on the failed experiments of William Hyde Wollaston and Humphry Davy, fellow members of the Royal Society.
Michael Faraday English Scientist is a drawing by Mary Evans
But Faraday didn’t stop there. He explored the electromagnetic properties of materials, worked with light and magnets, and more. In 1831, he discovered electromagnetic induction—the production of an electromotive force across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field. What he established was then modeled mathematically by James Clerk Maxwell as Faraday’s law. This discovery leads Faraday to construct the electric dynamo, the ancestor of modern power generators and the electric motor. Finally, Faraday established that only a single ‘electricity’ exists—at that time, it was thought that there was more than one.
Faraday was not the only one influenced by Hans Christian Ørsted’s discovery. Another one was André-Marie Ampère, a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as ‘electrodynamics.’ For him, it really started when his friend François Arago showed the members of the French Academy of Sciences the discovery made by Ørsted. After that, Ampère began developing a mathematical and physical theory to understand the relationship between electricity and magnetism. He showed that two parallel wires carrying electric currents attract or repel each other, depending on whether the currents flow in the same or opposite directions, respectively. This is what laid the foundation of electrodynamics and, of course, Ampère’s law, which states that the mutual action of two lengths of current-carrying wire is proportional to their lengths and the intensities of their currents. The base unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI) was subsequently named after him—the ‘ampere’ or ‘amp.’
In 1826, German physicist Georg Ohm defined the relationship between power, voltage, current, and resistance in what is now known as ‘Ohm’s Law.’ That’s why the ohm became the basic unit for resistance.
Really, the late 19th century saw the greatest progress in electrical engineering. As you may have noticed, I avoided talking about lights, and more precisely the light bulb, because it will be the subject of another article. For now, let’s go back to electricity.
James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish scientist who specialized in the field of mathematical physics. In 1865, he published ‘A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field,’ a paper on electromagnetism in which he derived an electromagnetic wave equation with a velocity for light in close agreement with measurements made by experiment, and deduced that light is an electromagnetic wave. Basically, he demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves move at the speed of light. His work made him a founder of the modern field of electrical engineering.
It certainly influenced German physicist Heinrich Hertz who, in 1886, was the first to conclusively prove the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism. Hertz’s proof of the existence of airborne electromagnetic waves led to an explosion of experimentation with this new form of electromagnetic radiation, which was called ‘Hertzian waves.’ That was until the 1910s when the term ‘radio waves’ became current.
Other discoveries were made after that. A lot. We will explore those subjects in subsequent articles.
The Commercial Electricity
Discoveries, theories, and experiments had to lead somewhere. We needed practical uses of electricity. Michael Faraday’s power generator set the stage for an electrical revolution—this is where the history of the light bulb became important. Having light bulbs was useless unless you had a practical source of energy to power them. Thomas Edison wanted to provide that. In order to make electricity practical and inexpensive. In 1882, he built the first electric power plant that was able to produce electricity, the Pearl Street generating station’s electrical power distribution system, which provided 110 volts of direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.
Nikola Tesla
By working in Paris with the Continental Edison Company, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla gained a lot of practical experience in electrical engineering. Soon, he started to design and build updated versions of generating dynamos and motors. In 1884, he moved to the United States with the help of his manager, Charles Batchelor. He ended up working on street lighting but quit after six months with the company. That didn’t stop his work and his new systems didn’t go unnoticed. Nevertheless, investors were not interested in his ideas for new types of alternating current (AC) motors and electrical transmission equipment.
Thomas Edison’s direct current had limitations that were overcome by the AC. In fact, in Europe, the AC power system was developed and adopted rapidly after 1886. In the US, Edison tried to discredit alternating currents as too dangerous in a public campaign called the ‘war of the currents.’ But progress can’t be stopped and, in 1888, alternating current systems gained further viability with the introduction of a functional AC motor—Nikola Tesla’s design for an induction motor was one of them. With Thomas Edison leaving the electric power business, direct current lost the war, and, by October 1890, Edison Machine Works began developing AC-based equipment. Mergers, patents, and other financial deals pushed AC power to the front. Well into the 20th century, some cities still used DC, but most adopted AC quickly.
A lot of people contributed to the ‘invention’ of electricity as we think of it today. Now, the difficulty is to produce more and more of it. That leads to new inventions!
As I was watching some YouTube videos about the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, his experiments with concrete were explored, and I asked myself the question: Who Invented Concrete? Obviously. After writing a few articles for this blog, I noticed that the answer is not just one person. It’s not that easy. So, I invite you to join me in the past to discover the history of concrete.
What is concrete?
First, for those of us who are not in the know, what exactly is concrete? The Cambridge Dictionary described it as a very hard-building material made by mixing together cement, sand, small stones, and water. In short, it’s a really resistant composite material we are using to build houses and other structures.
I don’t know about you, but I always have difficulties finding a good pen to write. Nowadays, working on the Internet, I mostly write on my computer, but I still use notebooks and I have a stock of old pens to finish before the ink dried up. One of them is a ballpoint pen and, I may be stupid, but how do you conceive a thing like that? I need an answer.
Who created the Ballpoint pen?
As always, I first ask my old friend Merriam-Webster for a good definition of the subject of the day.
