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Why Do We Celebrate With Balloons?
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Why we celebrate with balloons
Balloons were invented for use in military communications, scientific experiments, and transportation. Not long after that, people began to have fun with them.
Balloons are cheap and colorful, and people like watching things fly away.
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The rubber balloon
- Michael Faraday made the first rubber balloons in 1824, for use in the laboratory. He laid two sheets of rubber on top of each other, put flour in between to prevent them from joining all the way, then sealed the edge together. When Faraday filled the balloons with hydrogen, they had reasonable ascending power, but he was disappointed that the hydrogen kept escaping.
- Thomas Hancock, a British inventor and rubber manufacturer, began distributing balloon-making kits, and by 1847, London entrepreneurs were selling the first balloons made of vulcanized rubber. Not long after, the idea was exploited for the use at parties.
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Popularity of balloons
- Rubber balloons were manufactured in the United States in 1907.
- The first commercial sausage balloons were produced in 1912, and Americans began twisting balloons into animal shapes in the late 1930s.
- In the 1970s, foil balloons were introduced. Foil balloons hold their shape better than rubber balloons, and are better for conveying messages like "Happy birthday!"
- In East Asia, sky lanterns have been popular for many centuries and are now used as a form of celebration at many festivals.
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Environmental damage caused by balloons
- The Balloon Council says that latex balloons freeze when it reaches an altitude of about five miles, breaks into slivers that look like spaghetti, and breaks down in the soil like a leaf.
- Most rubber balloons are made of chemical-treated latex and may last for months.
- Balloons can be dangerous to sea animals as they can become lodged in the animal's digestive tract. However, no balloon has ever been shown to be the cause of death for a sea mammal.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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The first Mickey Mouse
Mickey’s appearance and personality have noticeably changed during these past 90 years.
The action of the first Mickey cartoon was that of a teenager or young boy. It showed his mischievous ...
Mickey's look
In Plane Crazy, he does not have white gloves or oversized shoes. He didn't even have a consistent number of fingers.
- Mickey's shoes, his trademark footwear, is introduced in the second cartoon, The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928), and stayed ever since.
- His gloves made their first appearance as part of his stage costume in The Opry House (1929). His gloves became a permanent fixture in When the Cat's Away (1929), and has remained part of his design ever since.
- His eyes first occupied his entire face but were redesigned as small, black ovals giving Mickey a greater range of facial expression.
Maturing character
The Band Concert (1935) was the first standard Micky Mouse cartoon in color with a signature red shorts. By this time, Mickey's mischievous prankster actions had passed on to Donald Duck. Mickey had transitioned into the role of an endearing romantic and humble hero.
Over time Mickey's facial features softened and appeared younger while his personality continued to mature. The Brave Little Tailor (1938) was the peak of Mickey's career, and at this point, Mickey became more curious and wholesome.
Today Mickey Mouse is optimistic, brave, and lovable in his iconic red shorts, yellow shoes, and white gloves.
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Inventions Come in Stages
Invention often comes in stages and phases, when existing technology is looked at and mixed with new creative insights, a process that sometimes takes thousands of years.
This makes it hard...
The Wheel And The Axle
- The wheel and the axle didn't suddenly spring up, but were a gradual, phased invention, starting with rollers that reduced friction on the ground, and helped the Egyptians and Mesopotamians move heavy objects.
- The oldest discovered axle was found inside a potter’s wheel in a miniature, toy-like form in Mesopotamia. The fact that the center of the wheel is stationary as compared to the circumference is in fact the greatest mechanical insight ever known.
- Combining the wheel with an axle was genius, leading to the invention of the wagon and other transport vehicles.
The Invention of The Full‑Size Wheeled Vehicle
- The name given to the first full-size wheel, according to paleolinguits, was ‘Kweklos’ which meant ‘to turn’.
- The time of this invention is said to be about 5400 years ago, though the exact location of the invention varies from Russia to Slovenia.
- The inventor was a genius in the conception and craft, as he was able to solve engineering, design and woodworking problems to scale up a toy into a full-size wagon.
- It had a profound effect on the productivity of farmers, and it even helped populations move towards other places that were not close to the river and were thus unexploited.
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The Science Of Rocket Science
Newton’s Third Law Of Motion, which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction is the heart of rocket science.
The basics of rocket science are not that complicate...
Rockets: Escape Velocity
The thrust required for an object to overcome Earth’s gravity and atmospheric resistance and move towards space is called escape velocity. Besides Earth, the gravitational forces that can affect the object are those coming from the sun, moon and even other planets.
Apart from space vehicles and the military, rockets are used in life-saving rescue flares and fireworks, and even the ejector seats in military planes.
History Of Rockets
- One of the earliest devices that used rocket propulsion was called the aeolipile, designed in the 1st century AD by Heron of Alexandria, and used steam to spin a metal ball.
- Early prototypes of rockets were produced for firework displays in China in the 13th century, with the real, metal versions coming in the 19th century, used in Navy ships as an upgraded version of cannon.
- Early rockets use flammable substances like gunpowder that propel it using the thrust of exhaust gases.