By Tim Lambert The name pencil comes from a Latin word, Penicillus, which means brush. In the Middle Ages, in England, a pencel was a small brush made of camel hair, used for painting. Graphite was discovered in Bavaria in the 15th century. However, a pure deposit of graphite was discovered in Borrowdale, Cumbria, England.… Continue reading A History of Pencils
Category: Articles
A Brief History of Contraceptives
By Tim Lambert Life was hard for women before artificial contraception. Not only did they usually have large numbers of children, but those children were also born close together. Reliable contraception was one of the great inventions of the 20th century. Of course, people have always attempted to prevent pregnancy. In Ancient Egypt, women made… Continue reading A Brief History of Contraceptives
A History of Pewter
By Tim Lambert Pewter was an alloy of tin and lead (although today lead is no longer used. Modern pewter is made of tin, antimony and copper). The earliest known pewter was made in Egypt in about 1,500 BC. The Romans also made pewter. In the Middle Ages, pewter was used by the Church and… Continue reading A History of Pewter
A History of Lead
By Tim Lambert People learned to use lead as early as 6,500 BC. It was used to make beads in what is now Turkey. Lead proved to be a useful metal because it has a low melting point and it does not corrode. The Romans used lead to make pipes. In fact, the Latin word… Continue reading A History of Lead
Famous Women Pilots
By Tim Lambert In 1784, Elisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly in an untethered balloon. In 1909, Elise Deroche became the first woman to fly solo. Raymonde de Laroche was born in 1882. In 1910, she became the first woman to gain a pilot’s licence (in France). Harriet Quimby was born in 1875.… Continue reading Famous Women Pilots
A History of Airplanes
By Tim Lambert Early Airplanes At first, people learned to fly in balloons or gliders, but in the 20th century, they made heavier-than-air flying machines. On 17 December 1903, the Wright brothers flew a plane. Once the plane had been invented, aircraft technology developed rapidly. In 1908, Henri Farman became the first recorded passenger in… Continue reading A History of Airplanes
A History of Balloons
By Tim Lambert Early Balloons The hot air balloon was invented by two brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier. On June 4, 1783, the Montgolfiers publicly demonstrated an unmanned hot-air balloon. On 19 September 1783, a duck, a sheep, and a cockerel became the first living creatures carried by a hot air balloon. On 27 August… Continue reading A History of Balloons
A History of Ships
By Tim Lambert Ancient Ships The earliest boats were dugout canoes. People lit a fire on a big log, then put it out and dug out the burned wood. About 3,100 BC, the Egyptians invented the sailing boat. They were made of bundles of papyrus reeds tied together. They had simple square sails made of… Continue reading A History of Ships
A History of Submarines
By Tim Lambert Early Submarines For hundreds of years, people dreamed of traveling underwater. However, the first submarine was launched in 1620. It was built by a Dutchman, Cornelius Drebbel. His submarine was made of wood and leather. It was rowed by oars. Drebbel demonstrated his submarine in the River Thames in front of a… Continue reading A History of Submarines
A History of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
By Tim Lambert 19th Century Milwaukee Milwaukee began as three different communities. Solomon Juneau arrived in the area in 1818. He founded a town called Juneautown. In 1835, a man named Byron Kilbourn created a separate town to the west, across a river. It was called Kilbourntown. At the same time, George Walker started another… Continue reading A History of Milwaukee, Wisconsin