10th May: Windmill Day

It's Windmill Day. Time for some little known facts about windmills.

1. The country most known for windmills is the Netherlands. They were used to drain Water from the land, and it is said that ‘windmills built the Netherlands’. At one time there were 10,000 fully operational windmills in the Netherlands. 1,200 of them remain today.
2. The oldest remaining mill in the Netherlands is the Zeddam tower mill in the province of Gelderland. It was built before 1451, and belonged to the ducal Van den Bergh family.
3. The tallest classical windmill (ie not a modern wind turbine) in the world is also in the Netherlands. The Molen de Noord in Schiedam is 33.3 metres high and is one of 19 very tall corn windmills which serviced the city’s Gin-making industry.
4. One of the earliest examples of a windmill in the UK was Southtown Windmill in Great Yarmouth – which stood 102 feet high.
5. Despite the Netherlands being known for them, windmills did not catch on in Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries. A Greek engineer named Hero in the 1st century AD is credited as being the inventor of the windmill. The Persians used them too. Their windmills were horizontal.
6. People who design, build or repair windmills are called millwrights. The study of mills is molinology (from Latin: molīna, mill) which includes other mechanical devices which use the energy of moving water or wind.
7. Windmill sails usually consist of a lattice framework on which a sailcloth is spread. The amount of cloth can be adjusted according to the amount of wind available and power needed. In colder climates, they often use wooden slats instead of cloth, because they were easier to handle in freezing conditions.
8. Windmills had an important secondary function in many communities - they were used to send messages. The position of the sails on a windmill was used to convey news such as a death in the family, a wedding, or even a call to come to the mill as quickly as possible. Sail signals also warned of impending Nazi raids during World War II.
9. The phrase ‘tilting at windmills’ is used to describe the act of attacking imaginary enemies or fighting unwinnable or pointless battles. It originates from an incident in Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. The title character is a retired country gentleman who is convinced that he is a knight. He attacks windmills in the mistaken belief they are giants.
10. Today most working windmills are wind turbines. The first of these was built in 1888 by inventor Charles F. Brush in Cleveland, Ohio. It weighed 40 tons, was 60 ft. tall with a 56 ft. diameter. He used it to power his mansion.