SheffGen
Family and Social History

Whats in a Name

Ampersand ..... The symbol '&' is the sole survivor of the 3000 signs in one of the world's earliest shorthand systems, invented by Marcus Tiro in Rome in 63 BC. It is used today to represent the word 'and' in several hundred languages.

Blotting paper ..... Sand was used to mop up damp ink until early in the I9th century, when blotting paper was discovered by accident by a papermill worker in Berkshire, England. He forgot to size some writing paper (by treating it with a glutinous wash to give it a finished surface), and it was thought that the batch was spoilt. The mill owner thought he might as well use up the paper as scrap, and tried writing on a sheet. The ink from his pen was simply absorbed-giving him the idea for blotting paper.

Christmas trees ..... The 16th-century Protestant reformer Martin Luther is one of the first persons recorded as having had a candle-lit tree in his home at Christmas. His purpose was merely to illuminate a room. Tree worship, however, has its roots much deeper in German history. In pagan times, trees were regarded as fertility symbols because their leaves sprout after winter. This probably led directly to the tree becoming a symbol of the feast of Christ's birth. The familiar conifer was probably chosen because it is green at the right time and its shape resembles a church steeple.

Cigar bands ..... In Cuba, in the days of the Spanish Empire, it was fashionable for rich and titled women to smoke cigars. They started the custom of wrapping narrow paper bands round the cigars to protect their fingers from nicotine stains.

Cigarettes ..... A group of Turkish soldiers are said to have invented cigarettes while defending the city of Acre from Napoleon in 1799. When their hookah (a water-cooled communal smoking pipe) was destroyed by cannon fire, they rolled tobacco in touch papers used for firing their guns.

Kindergarten ..... Memories of an unhappy childhood inspired Frederick Froebel to establish a 'small child occupation institute' (Kleinkindbeschaftigungsinstitut) at Blankenburg, in Germany, in 1837. Later he decided that 'kindergarten' (child's garden) was a happier-sounding name for his schools, where children of four and five could enjoy themselves playing in the sun or listening to poetry and stories. After 4 years the authorities closed the schools because of the 'dangerous freedom' of Froebel's ideas. But the schools caught on rapidly in America.

Kodak ..... Cameras were big and cumbersome until George Eastman, an American inventor, marketed the first handy Kodak camera in 1888. He chose the name Kodak because it was 'short, vigorous, could not be misspelt and, to satisfy trademark laws, meant nothing'. Candid KODAK The first box camera and celluloid roll film were both invented by George Eastman 1888 and 1889 The entire camera had to be returned to the manufacturers for reloading.

Madame Tussaud's ..... When the Bastille was stormed in 1789, young Marie Grosholtz, already famous in Paris for her wax portraits, was summoned to mould the likenesses of the prisoners whom the revolutionaries had released. As she descended to the dungeons, the story goes, her foot slipped, and she was saved from falling by a young man, Maxmilien Robespierre. Only a few years later, she was to hold his severed head in her lap while she created his death mask, for inclusion in her wax museum in the Boulevard du Temple, in Paris. In the same way, she modelled the heads of hundreds who perished on the guillotine.
Marie Grosholtz became rich and, in 1795, she married an engineer named Tussaud. But the marriage was not a success, and in 1802 she sailed for England, taking most of her wax collection with her. She toured Britain successfully for 30 years with her portraits of royal. and famous personalities, until she opened a museum in London's Baker Street 1834. She died in 1850 at the age of 90

Manneke Pis fountain ..... A prominent citizen of Brussels, distraught because his son was lost, promised to present the city with a bronze statue of the little boy if he could be found. The father kept his word, and the statue and its fountain have been a landmark in Brussels since 1648. Tourists who may be slightly shocked by the statue should know the father made a condition to his promise: he stipulated that the statue must represent the 'manneke (little man) exactly as he should be seen when found. And when found, the child just happened to be relieving himself.

Matches ..... John Walker, a chemist of Stockton - on - Tees, County Durham, hit on the idea of matches when he discovered that friction ignited a mixture of potasium chloride and antimony suiphide. He sold his first box in 1827, but never bothered to take out a patent. A small piece of sandpaper to strike the matches was given free with each box.

Paper money ..... The world's first banknotes were used in China in 1170 because copper was scarce and not enough coins could be minted. The first paper money in Europe was issued by the Bank of Sweden in 1661, though this was also a temporary measure. In 1694 the Bank of England was founded and began to issue promissary notes, originally handwritten but later printed. These quickly became a universally accepted form of exchange and were the first true banknotes.

Queen Mary ..... The liner Queen mary, launched in 1934, got her name through a misunderstanding. The Cunard Line had decided to call her Queen Victoria. The company chairman went to see George V and told him they wanted to name their new ship after one of Englands most noble queens. Before he could finish speaking though, the king interrupted with "Oh Her Majesty will be so pleased". So Queen Mary it had to be.

Red Square ..... The famous square in Moscow got its name not from the 1917 revolution, but from a Russian word, "krasnya", which means red and beautiful. It has been Red Square since the muddle ages.

Rubber boots ..... Centuries ago indians of the Amazon basin used rubber in a way that oddly anticipated the Wellington boot. They would dip their feet and legs in latex, the raw liquid from the rubber plant. The result was a tight fitting "boot" which protected the skin against thorns and insect bites. The original Wellington boots were made from leather. They were named after the Duke of Wellington who, along with some other officers wore them at the Battle of Waterloo. The first reference to the boots came in a play written by the English dramatist William Moncrieff, in 1817. The first rubber wellingtons appeared in shops in 1851, a year before the duke died.

Extracts taken from Amazing Facts