Chewing Gum - Keeping Jaws Moving For Centuries

Why do people chew gum? To settle nerves, sweeten the breath, aid digestion, clean the teeth, the reasons are many. Whatever the reason, folks have been chewing on various substances for thousands of years: At archaeological sites in northern Europe, evidence of lumps of birch bark tar a black sticky residue left over from burnt birch bark! have been found with teeth marks in them that date back roughly ",### years ago.

Why ancient people began chewing this tar isn$t known for sure, but some of the theories are that there might have been a narcotic effect of the tar, or that it had a medicinal effect. Ancient %reeks chewed the resin of the mastic tree to help clean teeth and sweeten the breath.

The sap of the sapodilla tree, or chicle, has been used for chewing for thousands of years by the peoples of southern &e'ico and (entral America. )ative Americans chewed the resin of the spruce tree and taught the first white settlers how to use it to slake thirst. *or easier chewing, early American settlers mi'ed spruce resin with beeswa'. The idea was e'panded upon by +ohn ,acon (urtis in &aine, who created the first commercially made chewing gum. -t was made from spruce resin, beeswa' and flavorings in ./0/ and was called The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum.

(urtis used paraffin to replace spruce resin in ./1#, and this new combination became more popular than his original gum. When chicle failed as a substitute for rubber, dentist William *. 2emple added flavoring to it and created the first chicle3based chewing gum. 2emple was not the first to patent a formula for chewing gum, but he was the first to patent in ./4"! and produce a commercial gum. Among many ingredients named in the patent that could be combined with the chicle to produce the gum are listed chalk and charcoal.

-n .//5 6r. Edward ,eeman added pepsin powder to chewing gum to help hold in the flavor and to act as a digestive aid. *rank *leer developed the first formula for bubble gum in the middle of the ."th century but it wasn$t put on the market until Walter 6iemer refined the formula in ."5/. 7e called the gum Double Bubble.

William Wrigley +r. started the Wrigley (hewing %um (ompany in (hicago, -8. in ./".. -t went on to become the single largest manufacturer and seller of chewing gum in the world. (hewing gum became very popular at the turn of the 5#th century, and American soldiers stationed oversees in WW - helped spread it to Europe. The first sugarless gum was created in the ."1#$s by dentist 6r.9etrulis. 7e sold his company to the Wrigley (ompany in the ."4#$s. Topps bubble gum company started to include cards of professional baseball players with their gum in ."1.. As of the year 5#.5, there are :.;0 trillion pieces of chewing gum manufactured world3 wide every year< annual sales of chewing gum world3wide is ." billion dollars, and Wrigley$s (hewing %um (ompany accounts for :1= of all chewing gum manufactured world3wide. 6entists encourage the chewing of gum as an aid to good dental health, as long as it$s sugar3free gum. (hewing gum helps stimulate the flow of saliva, a natural way to help rid teeth of pla>ue and bacteria, as well as helping to dilute acids that can erode tooth enamel. 2ince 5##0, chewing gum has been banned in 2ingapore. ?nly gum that is of therapeutic value and prescribed by a physician is allowed.

Flashlights - Shining Light On Their History

The flashlight is an e'ample of an invention that would have been impossible if not for the invention of other items, such as the electric light bulb and the electric battery. The history of the flashlight: The carbon filament electric light bulb was invented and patented by Thomas Edison in ./;".

*or many years, electric batteries were $wet$ cells, usually glass containers filled with substances that produced electricity due to chemical reactions. They were fragile, heavy, and dangerous. The dry cell replaced the wet ingredients with a paste, and the first $6$ si@e dry cell battery was invented in ./"/ by The )ational (arbon (ompany.

There were many attempts to devise a portable lighting device in the late ."th century. These attempts were considered novelties with little practical value. The name flashlight comes from these early attempts, as they would not give a steady stream of light, but would flash. A Aussian immigrant by the name of (onrad 7ubert started his own company called American Electrical )ovelty And &anufacturing (ompany that produced lighted stick pins and a lighted flowerpot among other novelty items. 7e recogni@ed the potential of the flashlight, and hired 6avid &isell in ./";, who had invented an early bicycle lamp, to help devise a workable model.

The first flashlights made by 7ubert were made by hand from paper and fiber tubes with a brass reflector and light bulb. They used the newly3invented $6$ cry cell batteries. A number of these flashlights were made, and 7ubert gave them to some )ew Bork (ity policemen. The policemen gave 7ubert very favorable reports about them, and in ."#1 7ubert got a patent for a flashlight with an onCoff switch in a cylindrical casing.

The )ational (arbon (ompany bought a half interest in 7ubert$s company in ."#4. The name of the company was changed to The American Ever Aeady (ompany. The trade name was shortened to Eveready. The flashlight has had many changes and improvements over the years. &etal tubes used for the body instead of paper, more efficient batteries, long lasting light bulbs, even no3battery flash lights that produce their own power by shaking or cranking a handle. ,ut the basic design is the same as that created in ./"/ by 7ubert and &isell.

Pen ils - History an! Fa ts

2ome history and little known facts about the common pencil: The first wood encased pencils came about because of the discovery of a large deposit of graphite in England in the .4th century. %raphite proved to be superior to lead which had been used since ancient Aome for writing! as it left a darker mark on the paper. ,ut graphite was soft and brittle so it needed a holder. 2ticks of graphite were first wrapped in string, then holders were made of wood for more durability.

)uremberg %ermany produced the first mass produced pencils in the .;th century. The first mass produced pencils weren$t painted.

The -ndustrial Aevolution of the ."th century saw many pencil manufacturers competing and making pencils of different styles. 9roducers also started to paint their pencils and imprinting them with their brand names and logos. Erasers were first put on pencils in the ./1#$s by an American manufacturer. A type of cedar wood called -ncense (edar is used by D.2. pencil manufacturers. &ost pencils made in the D.2. have erasers on them. European made pencils don$t. &ore than half of all pencils come from (hina, over .# billion a year.

The graphite cores of today$s pencils are a mi'ture of graphite and clay. The formula is changed according to the hardness and darkness of the lead desired. +ohn 2teinbeck the author used an enormous number of pencils, up to 4# a day. 7is novel East of Eden took over :## pencils to write. +ohnny (arson of late night television fame fidgeted with a pencil on his show. They were specially made pencils that had erasers on each end to prevent accidents. 8ead has not been used in pencils since Aoman times, but until the middle of the 5#th century lead3based paint was used to paint them which could cause lead poisoning if the pencil was chewed. Thomas Edison had his pencils made specially for him. They were shorter and thicker than a standard pencil and had softer lead. &echanical pencils were invented in ./55.

9enknives were used at first to sharpen pencils. After many attempts by inventors the manual pencil sharpener was invented in ./0;. There are now pencils on the market that can be bent and even tied into a knot. They are made from a special fle'ible polymer and lead that will bend together.