13 October: Spinning Tops

The second Wednesday in October is International Top Spinning Day. 10 things you might not know about spinning tops:

1. Spinning tops are among the oldest recognisable toys found by archaeologists. They seem to have been invented independently by every culture in the world.
2. A clay top unearthed in Iraq was dated to 35th century BC—nearly six thousand years ago, and there was one in Tutenkhamen's tomb dating back to 1300BC.
3. Early tops were made from fruits, nuts and seeds.
4. The laws of physics explain why an object that would normally fall onto its side remains upright while it is spinning. The motion of a top is described by equations of rigid body dynamics, specifically the theory of rotating rigid bodies. A spinning top is held upright by angular momentum. They eventually slow down and stop because of friction against the spinning surface.
5. In the 8th century BC, the poet Homer mentioned tops in the Iliad: "Ajax caught up [a stone] and struck Hektor above the rim of his shield close to his neck; the blow made him spin round like a top and reel in all directions."
6. In ancient Rome, a four sided top was used in gambling games. Each side was marked with a letter: A for Aufer meaning "take", D for Depone meaning "put down", N for Nihil meaning "nothing" and T for Totum meaning "all" meaning the player wins the whole pot.
7. In New Zealand, Maori people made tops from gourds which made a wailing noise when they were spun. They were used in ceremonial mourning of the dead or to avenge a defeated clan.
8. Cyclosa turbinata, a type of Spider, is named after the Latin for spinning top, because it is shaped like one.
9. Two scientists called James David Forbes and James Clerk Maxwell experimented with spinning tops to see what happened when the movement of a top blurred its colours into one. Some of their observations contradicted what we know about colours, for example, they observed that "Blue and Yellow do not make Green, but a pinkish tint."
10. If you want to celebrate International Top Spinning Day, here's how you do it. The aim is to get least 10,000 tops spinning around the world, so get a group of people together and spin some tops. Take pictures and email them to the Spinning Top and Yo-Yo Museum in Wisconsin, or share them on social media, #TopSpinningDay.

My Books:

If you like stories about:

• Superheroes
• Psychic detectives
• Romance
• Alternative dimensions
• Time travel 
• Secrets
• Friendship
• Family relationships
• Ghosts
• Adventure
• Crime

If you want to read about superheroes who aren't the usual Marvel/DC staples, who don't all live in the USA.

If you like quirky tales.

If you like to support independent self published authors.

Check out my books page