Top 10 facts about common things that you probably don't know

In today's fast developing world we are pretty accustomed to the innovative changes that happen around us. But many a times most of us fail to comprehend the various subtlety that is encapsulated into designs of vivid objects surrounding us. There are a lot of things that have a unique story relating to it but we don't bother to know more about it since it seems to us as a very simple object that doesn't deserve our attention. Well, here are a few interesting facts that may change your perception about these "simple objects" and make you believe that even something quite basic and simple can have a brilliant history,logic or design implementation behind it.

1. The secret behind the USB symbol:

Universal Serial Bus

You must have seen this symbol many times but did you know that this symbol was inspired from the Trident 'Dreizack' of the Roman God Neptune?

Instead of 3 pointed triangles the symbol has each of a square,triangle and a circle. So what looks like 3 terminals is actually based on the 3 prongs of a mythical trident !!!

2. High heels were originally made for men:

During the 10th century many horse riders starting wearing high heels because it helped them in staying in the stirrups while horse riding. The Persian cavalry used to wear inch- high heels and this trend spread across entire Europe.

Persian riding shoe

Later high heels became not just a useful article for horse riding but also a symbol of masculinity as portrayed by King Louis XIV of France. He used it to "stand above" against the aristocrats.

King Louis XIV of France

Later high heels became an item of prestige since anyone having high heels used to have horses as well which was considered as something which only the rich could afford. Later the footwear for men started getting broader and sturdier while tapered and decorative for women. Finally in the 18th century high heels became obsolete for men and has since then being categorized as women's fashion.

3. The 4 kings in playing cards represent actual kings:

Playing cards have been around centuries but did you know that the 4 kings represent actual historical kings? the King of Spades represents the biblical King David, the King of Hearts represents King Charles or Charlemagne, the King of Clubs represents Alexander the Great and finally the King of Diamond represents Julius Caesar.

Fun fact: 1. The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

                2. The king of hearts is also called as the 'Suicide King' because of the way he holds his sword makes it look as if he is going to behead himself !!

4. Why cold drink bottles have bumps on the bottom:

Liquids undergo change in volume when they are cold, so soft drinks which are served cold needs some extra space to compensate for the change in volume. The bottom bumps are slightly capable of expansion which serves this purpose. Besides this, the soft drinks are filled with pressurized gas and here the bumps cater the need to handle that excess pressure. The bumps also tend to improve the overall stability of the bottle. So next time you see a cold drink bottle remember that its just not an appealing design but also serves a scientific purpose.

5. Why there is a hole in some of the pen caps:

It is commonly believed that there are holes in the pen cap so that the ink would dry up more quickly which would force people to buy more ball pens- how wicked of the manufacturer!!

Although it would dry up the pen ink to a certain extent, this was NOT the original purpose of providing a hole. The earliest manufacturers provided the hole to provide passage of air in case children swallow the pen cap resulting in suffocation which could prove fatal. Since children have a habit of putting small things in their mouths and pen cap is no exception, the design is actually helpful in preventing fatalities.

6. Ever wondered the use of the small hole in an airplane window?

The teeny-tiny hole on the window of an airplane called as 'breather hole' serves the purpose of regulating the pressure between the inner and outer panes of the window such that there is more pressure on the outward pane. So in case the outer pane breaks you would still be able to breath which makes the breather hole an important safety feature.

Another utility of the breather hole is to prevent fog formation on the window- after all, what's an air travel without the fun of peeking below towards the world when you are soaring high above?

7. What does the arrow on a gas tank symbol in cars indicate:

The arrow near the gas tank symbol on dashboard of your car indicates the side of the car where the gas tank cap is located. So no more popping out your head or getting out of the car while you are at a petrol pump station just to know where is the gas tank cap. The answer lies just in front of you.

8. The significance of the colored dots at the bottom of a newspaper page:

The CMYK (Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black) colors are the basic colors that are used for printing and these 'registration marks' are used for perfect alignment of the articles and pictures. If these colors are not aligned in the specific sequence or are overlapping each other then the pictures tend to be blurry. So those 4 dots are not just some random fancy marks but serve an extremely crucial aspect of printing newspapers.

9.  The secret behind bumps on the 'f' and 'j' key on keyboards:

The ridge on the 'f' and 'j' key on the keyboards help to position our fingers such that we don't have to look down on the keyboard while typing which would significantly increase the typing speed. Typists refer to these keys as 'home key' and is important for typing when using traditional 10 finger typing.

10. Trailers used to run after the movie:

Initially trailers of upcoming movies used to be shown after the movie which you came to watch. Since they "trailed" movies it was called trailers. But obviously no one likes watching trailers when all you want to do is sit back and watch the movie that you have come for. So apparently people never sat after the movie to watch the trailers because of which trailers were started to be shown before the movies but since the name was popular enough, its name remained.

Thats all for now folks !! If you liked the post please do share and subscribe and let me know your views and opinions in the comment section.