March 28 - Wednesday

Ragnar Lodbrok Day

1709 Birthday of Saxon porcelain
1797 In the US, the first washing machine is patented
1837 Chicago is officially registered as a city

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Since the man began to wear clothes, he was faced with the question of how to wash it.
The necessity of washing clothes existed at all times and among all peoples. Of course, hand washing was always, but the history of the invention of devices that would facilitate it, begins several centuries ago. For example, seamen used this method during the voyage: clothes were attached with a rope and thrown overboard, and seawater with foam thoroughly washed off all the dirt from the fabric. Or women who during washing washed linen on stones, for a greater efficiency of using sand as an abrasive. And the means for washing were known since ancient times. During excavation of Ancient Rome, the remains of soap from the ash and fat of sacrificial animals were found.
But still, hundreds of years of washing was mostly done by hands, and finally, in the 18th century, the issue of creating a device capable of facilitating and speeding up this process was taken up closely. And in 1797 one of these devices was created. March 28, 1797 in the United States Nathaniel Briggs from New Hampshire patented the first washing machine, which is a wooden box with a movable frame.
The following similar invention was again patented in the US, in 1851 - American James King invented a washing machine with a rotating drum, which was very similar to the modern one, but the drive was tame. In subsequent years, such inventions were patented with an enviable regularity, creeping in with all the new improvements. Sometimes manual power was replaced by an animal, as one gold digger in California did. He arranged a public laundry on the basis of a washing machine, launched by 12 mules. An important and indispensable attribute of the machine were hand rollers for pressing laundry, invented in 1861, which were attached to the body of the machine.
The process of distribution and improvement of washing machines was gaining momentum, and by 1875 in America alone, more than 2,000 patents for laundry devices had been registered. Not all ideas were viable and developed further. The original countdown era of washing machines began with their serial production in 1900 by the German firm MIELE & CIE. And they were in high demand, which spodviglo and other companies to do this production.
The revolution in the development of washing machines was the use of a motor - at first it was either a gasoline internal combustion engine or an electric motor. Machines with electric drive appeared in 1908, and the first automatic washing machine appeared in 1949.
Year after year, washing machines became more and more perfect - they learned to rinse, wring out, turn off, have several washing regimes, decreased in size ... In general, they have become just an inalienable attribute of the life of modern man. It is also worth noting that the technical evolution of washing machines was accompanied by their aesthetic perfection. In addition to engineers, these designers also worked on these products. "Ugly duckling" has turned into an elegant household appliance, not only performing a wide range of functions and simplifying the life of a person, but also decorating his home.