Posts Tagged ‘yoyo’
Yo-Yos in Space!…
From Physics Central’s wonderful series “Science Off the Sphere,” astronaut and chemist Dr. Don Pettit walks the dog– among many other moves made even niftier in the absence of gravity.
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As we float like butterflies, we might send instructive birthday greetings to Maria Montessori; she was born on this date in 1870. A physician and educator, she developed a philosophy of education which bears her name— and which is in use today in public and private schools throughout the world.
Deliciate in the ludibrious…
From MatadorAbroad, a heart-felt plea: “20 Obsolete English Words that Should Make a Comeback.”
Read it and kench!
As we scribble in the margins of our dictionaries, we might recall that it was on this date in 1866 that the first U.S. patent for a yoyo was issued to James L. Haven and Charles Hittrick. Though the device is called a “Whirligig” or a “Bandalore” in the patent form, it had the unmistakable “two disks coupled together at their centers by means of a clutch” design. (It was also the first time rim-weighting to maintain momentum was mentioned in a patent: “it will be observed that the marginal swell … exercises the function of a flywheel.”)
Messrs. Haven and Hettrick mass-produced yoyos over a half century… during which time, in a 1916 Scientific American Supplement article, the name “yoyo” was first used in the U.S. in print. the name “yoyo” was popularized in America starting in 1928 by Pedro Flores, who borrowed it from the Philippines (where it had been borrows from China, where the toy has ancient roots) for the products of his Yo-yo Manufacturing Company.
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