These Facts Seem Canned
Sunday
When Napoleon offered a cash prize for a way to preserve nutritious food for his often-hungry troops, fellow Frenchman Nicholas Appert developed a way to reliably do so in sealed glass bottles. That same year, 1810, Englishman Peter Durand got a patent from the king for similar preservation methods, but focused on tin-coated iron cans, filled with food and then soldered shut. Within 2 years, the world’s first canning factory opened in England.
Monday
Remarkably, it was almost 50 years between the spread of canned food and the invention of the can opener. In the meantime, can opening methods were rather inelegant, including using a hammer and chisel.
Tuesday
The next big innovation in can opening was the pull-tab (AKA “ring tab”) opening in the 1960s, which did not require a separate tool. About 20 years later, the familiar push-in, fold back tab arrived, both invented by engineer and inventor Ermal Fraze.
Wednesday
Steel is the main component of most cans for food, while aluminum constitutes most beverage cans. You’ve likely heard of “tin cans,” but tin is typically only a coating in steel cans, not a main component.
Thursday
With 100 billion produced each year, it is easy to take the aluminum can for granted, but it is quite an impressive item. Weighing just 1/2 ounce with walls the thickness of a human hair, it can contain up to six atmospheres of pressure and support over 100 lbs empty.
Friday
Aluminum cans are a recycling success story. The metal does not degrade with each recycling cycle, so cans both typically contain the most recycled content and are themselves are the most recycled drink container. This is good, because obtaining virgin aluminum from mined bauxite is an energy-intensive process.
Saturday
The energetic Can Can Dance, also known as “The French Cancan” started in 1820s Paris and grew in the 1850s, proving both controversial and popular on account of the bold exhibit of the high-kicking female dancers’ legs and undergarments.