On this date in 1784 David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patented the first screw. 10 things you might not know about screws:
The word screw comes from the Latin word “scrofa”, meaning sow or Pig. This is because the heads of early screws resembled a pig’s snout.
The screw mechanism is one of the six classical simple machines defined by Renaissance scientists.
It is believed that a Greek named Archytas, the founder of mechanics, was the inventor of the screw.
He didn’t invent screws in order to fasten things together. In ancient Greece they were used to make presses for extracting oil from Olives or juice from Grapes. Later, in Medieval times, similar devices were used in the printing process.
Then they were used for devices that raised Water. It’s thought that Archimedes came up with that idea, and the uses included irrigating fields and getting the bilge out of boats.
Even when people did start using them as fastenings, they couldn’t be used for anything requiring precision, because they were generally made by hand by families and cottage industries. No two screws, therefore, were ever exactly alike.
Jesse Ramsden was the first person to figure out how to make a screw using a lathe in 1770.
Job and William Wyatt were two brothers in England who in the late 18th century invented the first automatic screw making machine, but it didn’t take off. Later on, others took up the idea and it became possible to make 16,000 screws a day with a team of only 30 people.
At this point, screws weren’t tapered, so it was necessary to drill a hole in the thing you needed to fasten. It wasn’t until the 1840s that someone invented the tapered screw.
Most screws are tightened by clockwise rotation, which is called a right-hand thread. Screws with a left-hand thread are rarely used unless the screw would be subject to counter-clockwise torque, which would loosen a right-hand screw. For this reason, the left-side pedal of a bicycle has a left-hand thread.
A Very Variant Christmas
Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
Themes Christmas; superheroes; reunions; parties; life choices; shocking surprises; mistaken identity; kidnap and rescue.
Reasons not to read it
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
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