24 Facts About Glass You Didn’t Know

24 Facts About Glass You Didn’t Know

Glass is something that many of us take for granted as we use it everywhere. Many of us probably never think about how glass was first invented and what it was used for. Before man started making glass, it was found in nature. When sand is hit by lightning, glass tubes that are known as fulgurites are sometimes formed. They are also known as petrified lightning. Natural glass can also be formed around volcanic eruptions and is known as obsidian.

Here are a few fun facts about glass that you may not have known:

1. Evidence has been found that the first man-made glass was manufactured around 3000 BC. Syria, Egypt and Mesopotamia were well-known glassmaking hubs.
2. The Romans introduced a more sophisticated glass-making technique to the lands they conquered.
3. The Portland vase is one of the most valuable art objects made of glass. It is believed to have been made in Rome around the start of the Christian era.
4. In 1608, the first glass plant in the US was built in Jamestown, Virginia.
5. The glass furnaces in Venice were shifted to the island of Murano in 1291 as it was feared that the furnaces would set the city on fire.
6. By the 17th century, ordinary people in Europe could afford to use glass for their windows. This resulted in an improvement in their quality of life as it allowed them to become more hygienic and disease-free.
7. Glass can be recycled many times over as it does not get worn out.
8. When recycled glass is used, it helps to reduce air pollution by 20%.
9. New York’s Corning Museum of Glass has over 45,000 pieces of glass art and is the largest collection in the world.
10. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can provide power to a 100-watt bulb for close to one hour.
11. On average, approximately 330 glass jars and bottles are used by every family each year in the United Kingdom.
12. France’s King Charles VI, also known as Charles the Mad, regularly hallucinated that he was made of glass and often carried iron pieces in his clothing as he thought that they would protect him.
13. For almost 5 centuries, China did not produce any glass. Now it controls 34% of the global market, making it the largest producer of glass in the world.
14. Brown glass is most used to contain food and drink as ultra-violet rays are reflected by the amber tint, preventing foods and beverages from getting spoiled.
15. Around 30 BC, an important instrument still used in glass-making, the blowpipe, was invented.
16. It takes more than 1 million years for glass to decompose in dumps and landfills.
17. The largest glass furnaces produce over 1 million bottles on a daily basis.
18. The glass container industry is worth more than $5 billion.
19. When glass breaks, the cracks move at speeds of about 3000mph.
20. Glass can be dissolved with hydrofluoric acid.
21. When sound waves hit thin-glass goblets, they vibrate due to a phenomenon known as resonance.
22. In the US, a mere 27% of the glass that is used is recycled.
23. In 2008, North Carolina became the first state in the US to mandate that glass containers used in bars must be recycled.
24. September is the official ‘Recycle Glass Month’.

www.shiningwindows.co.uk