15 February 2010

Staples

Musing is funny word. If you think about it, it has to have derived from muse, but why would one need to muse when one has a muse?

Just a thought.

I found out (*looked up*) something interesting, though random, that I will share.

I was wondering about the staple the other day, so I looked it up. Turns out it has been around for a loooong time.

The earliest mention of a staple is from the 1700's! Apparently, it was invented for the then present king of France (King Louis XV), and was encrusted with jewels and made of gold.

However, the proles could not use these wonderful little buggers until about 1877. That's when Henry R. Heyl applied for a patent ("Improvement in devices for inserting metallic staples"), that paved the road for the modern stapler.

In fact, the term 'stapler' was not commonly used until as late as 1920 (though it was first used in a patent in 1887).

One more thing: Did you know that surgical staples are actually shaped like 'M's and form a rectangle when used, rather than the straight line of more traditional staples?

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