As today is Worship of Tools Day in India, here are some facts about an object from the toolbox: the hammer.
Archaeological records show the hammer may be the oldest tool for which definite evidence exists. It could even predate humanity itself and have been used by the ancestors of homo sapiens. The earliest hammers found date to around 3.3 million years ago. In 2012 archaeologists Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis of Stony Brook University found stones which had been shaped to use as hammers at Kenya's Lake Turkana.
The first hammers didn’t have handles, but as time went on, users came up with the revolutionary idea of adding a handle. The earliest handles were made from sticks, tied to the hammer head with animal sinew.
There’s evidence, too, that all the great civilizations used them for construction. They would have been used by the Egyptians when building The Pyramids, and the ancient Greeks when constructing the Acropolis.
Hammers are a common symbol in heraldry. In the Middle Ages, hammers were often used in blacksmith's guild logos.
In more modern times, a hammer is often an element used on a flag or logo to represent working people. A hammer and a pick, for example, have been used to represent mining. The hammer and sickle, the symbol of the former Soviet Union represented the industrial working class and the agricultural working class respectively.
In Pink Floyd – The Wall, two hammers crossed represent the fascist takeover of the concert during In the Flesh. The hammer, in this case, beats down any "Nails" that stick out.
A hammer head is made by a process called “hot forging” in which a steel bar is heated to about 2350°F (1300°C). This makes the steel soft enough to be manipulated into shape.
Ancient gods are sometimes depicted with hammers. Thor’s Mjölnir is perhaps the best known, but the Greek hero Hercules and the Celtic god Sucellus also had hammers. In American folklore there is a hero called John Henry. He was an African American freedman, said to have worked as a "steel-driving man" whose job was to hammer a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives during the building of railway tunnels. His hammer represents the strength and endurance of a man.
There’s a sport called hammer throwing, but what the athletes throw in this event doesn’t look anything like the hammer in your tool box. This hammer is a metal ball attached to a wire with a handle on the end.
Hammers were once used as weapons. War hammers were used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. A historical figure known for using one is Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment