In some parts of the world , an umbrella is practically a necessity . Whether it ’s for rain or sun or singin ’ in the rain , here are eight fact about the history of those conducting wire and fabric widget that keep your head ironical during a rainstorm .
1. YOU CAN THANK THE SUN FOR THE WORDUMBRELLA.
While people today associate umbrella with rainwater , the roots of the word have to do with tincture from the sunshine — umbrellastems from the Latinumbrafor “ shade , shadow . ” But shortly after the Christian Bible appeared in English ( and in England ’s less - than - cheery weather),umbrellamorphed from being the terminus for something that shaded you from the Sunday to something that kept off rain .
2. UMBRELLAS WERE INVENTED IN CHINA.
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historic excavation suggest that theChinese were the firstto create a collapsable fabric dome around the twelvemonth 21 CE ( at the latest ) , when rule were concerned in having some sort of shade enshroud for their carriages . The umbrella was export abroad thanks to the Silk Road , first to Japan and Korea , then across Europe and Asia . The utilisation of parasols and umbrellas prosper during the Roman Empire , died down during the Middle Ages , and start to get in popularity again during the Renaissance .
3. UMBRELLAS WERE ONCE USED SOLELY BY WOMEN.
Umbrellas were the ancient eq of donning a pair of gamey heels — only women would use them , and they were a blatantsymbol of muliebrity . In fact , in many ancient cultures , world wave umbrellas was a planetary house of effeminacy . And umbrellas were often associated with high fashion and riches . It was n’t until the mid 18th - century , when the laminitis of English Magdalen Hospital was publicly and frequently go steady using an umbrella , that theconnection between femininity and umbrellas disappear .
4. THE 19TH CENTURY WAS PROBABLY THE MOST FRUITFUL PERIOD IN UMBRELLA INNOVATION.
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If you see at old paintings of umbrellas , you ’ll notice that they all look the same as they do today . In fact , a 1270 CE Song Dynastypaintingfeatures what is perhaps the earlier art delineation of a collapsible umbrella and it depend basically the same as what we flip out in a downpour .
But there have been some improvement , and an intense spike heel inumbrella innovation occurred in the 1800s . One thing that fall out of this spirt of creativeness was the button that leave the umbrella to automatically inflate or collapse , an innovation that proved remarkably sturdy in withstanding the test of metre . But it was n’t until 1928 when Hans Haupt — who suffered from a state of war injury that barrack a cane - umbrella compounding — create an umbrella thatfolded neatlyinto itself .
5. THE U.S. PATENT OFFICE IS DELUGED WITH DESIGNS FOR BETTER UMBRELLAS.
As source Susan Orlean wrote in aNew Yorkerpieceon modernistic rendering of the humble umbrella , they are “ so average that everyone thinks about them , and , because they ’re relatively dewy-eyed , you do n’t demand an forward-looking degree to imagine a path to redesign them , but it ’s difficult to come up with an umbrella idea that has n’t already been done . ”
Orlean cash in one’s chips on to key how the United States Patent Office has seen more than 3000 plan for redesigning the umbrella , from sum up a pet leash to try at creating a fly umbrella . But none have really stick . Today , a Google search of the US Patent Office yields 120,000 entrance with the Word of God “ umbrella , ” include anautomated sun get across umbrella , dog umbrella , umbrella with interchangeable summit , Mr. - fit out umbrella organization , and many more .
6. ONE CITY IN CHINA PRODUCES A LARGE CHUNK OF THE WORLD’S UMBRELLAS.
Songxia has been draw as the umbrella capitol of the world , and for good reason : consort to local estimates , about half a billion umbrellas , or 30 % of China ’s production , are made here , supplied by more than 1000 factories . One single worker nominate about 300 umbrellas a day . The city ’s manufactory , which rest two hours in the south of Shanghai , make“rain umbrella , golf game umbrellas , beach umbrellas , fold umbrella , promotional umbrellas , mini umbrellas , kid umbrella , manner umbrella , parasol umbrellas , terrace umbrella , clear umbrellas , wedding umbrella , market umbrellas , etc . ” That ’s a lot of umbrella !
7. THE UMBRELLA COVER MUSEUM IN MAINE BOASTS THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF UMBRELLA COVERS IN THE WORLD.
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You have sex those affair your umbrella hail at heart of ? Those nylon sleeves that are presuppose to protect it from destroy anything else in your bag but that you unavoidably lose ? Well , there ’s an entire museum commit to umbrella blanket . Nancy Hoffman is the curator and theatre director of theUmbrella Cover Museumon Peaks Island in Maine , a 20 moment ferry drive away from Portland . Hoffman start her aggregation when she see a few stray umbrella sheaths in her household and steal another one from a section store , giving birth to her collection , which now numbers over 700 .
8. A MYSTERIOUS “UMBRELLA MAN” WAS PRESENT AT JFK’S ASSASSINATION.
November 22 , 1963 , was a clear , balmy day , stark for a campaign with the top down in a convertible . But shortly after high noon in Dallas , as President John F. Kennedy ’s car force past Dealey Plaza , a mankind open his umbrella and brandish it from east to west . Moments later on , a shower of gunshot fell from the sky and kill the 35th president of the United States . later on , the valet de chambre — who would afterwards become cognise as the “ Umbrella Man ” and was the topic of a recentNew York Times“op - doc”—sat down before leaving and heading toward the Texas School Book Depository .
Why did he have an umbrella ? Was he bespeak the assassin(s ) ? Did he have a throttle attached to the umbrella that delivered the fateful wounds ? These question were debated for class among the press and conspiracy theorists alike , but never quite answer until Louie Steven Witt appeared in front of the House Select Committee on Assassinations a decade later to attest about his umbrella , claiming he ’d not only been unaware of the brouhaha but also that he was simply hatchel the chairperson for his father ’s role in working with former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in propitiate Adolf Hitler before World War II ( Chamberlain ’s mode accessory of choice was a bleak umbrella ) . Of of course , some cabal theoriser do n’t bear that account , and the debate over the Umbrella Man keeps on humming .
And it ’s not the only umbrella that may or may not be involve in an assassination : Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was prod with anumbrella whose tip charge the poison ricininto the man ’s thigh , killing him in a matter of days .
