Today is Earmuffs Day, commemorating Chester Greenwood, from Farmington, Maine, who patented them on this date in 1877.
Earmuffs can be defined as a piece of equipment or clothing accessory that covers the Ears. They are used for either thermal (keeping the ears warm) or acoustic (protection from loud noise) purposes.
Thermal earmuffs came first. The above mentioned Chester Greenwood was out Ice skating at the age of 15 when he came up with an idea to keep his ears warm.
He went home and asked his grandmother to sew pieces of Beaver fur between two loops of wire.
Greenwood made further improvements to his design – he added a steel band to connect the loops to hold them in place. He also covered the inside of the mufflers with black velvet for comfort.
He was just 18 when granted the patent. However, while he is generally credited with the invention of earmuffs, he wasn’t the first to come up with the idea. The reason he got a patent was the improvements he made, in particular a v-shaved swivel hinge that kept earmuffs tight to the ear.
Earmuffs became Greenwood’s career. He opened a factory in Farmington which by 1883 was making 50,000 pairs a year and continued making them for 60 years. Farmington calls itself the Earmuff Capital of the World and has an annual celebration, Chester Greenwood Day on December 21, and a parade on the first Saturday in December.
‘Earmuffs’ as one word was first used in 1889.
Why wear earmuffs and not a woolly hat, you may be asking? The ears stick out from the side of the head in order to fulfil their function of gathering sound waves. They have a high skin surface-area-to-volume ratio, and very little muscle tissue. When a person is involved in strenuous activity wind chill factor can make the ears cold but the rest of the body may be warm. Wearing a hat in these circumstances could result in a person becoming too hot.
Acoustic earmuffs are believed to have originated during World War II. Pilots of military aircraft wore leather flaps over their ears to protect against hearing loss due to engine noise.
Farmers put earmuffs on calves during the winter to protect them from the harsh cold and prevent frostbite. There are pictures on Instagram!
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.
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