00:00 If someone finally invents time travel and hop on a trip to the past, you won't recognize
00:06 many of the things you know and love today.
00:09 The Statue of Liberty and the Egyptian pyramids, some basic gadgets like the remote control
00:15 and your laptop, and even the corn you have for lunch have all changed beyond recognition.
00:21 When the pyramids were originally built in ancient Egypt and Giza and other places, they
00:26 didn't look sandy brown at all.
00:29 All of them were covered with white limestone.
00:32 If you had seen them under the hot African sun, you'd have to look away.
00:35 That's how smooth and shiny they were.
00:38 Builders used around 6 million tons of this material for the Great Pyramid of Giza alone.
00:44 It's the largest one you can still see on your trip to Egypt.
00:48 The local rules were quite a thrifty crowd, and they reused some of the casing stones
00:52 for other construction projects.
00:55 A massive earthquake in the 14th century has also loosened some of the stones, so you won't
01:00 see a lot of limestone, but some of it is still there on top of the Pyramid of Hufre
01:05 in Giza.
01:07 It looks like it has a second peak on top of the first.
01:10 In ancient times, all pyramids used to have capstones called pyramidions covered in a
01:16 mix of gold and silver.
01:18 Most of them have been lost over the centuries, but you can still see a few of them at museums.
01:23 They show images of Egyptian deities.
01:26 The pyramids were probably modeled after a sacred pointed stone, the benben.
01:32 It represented the rays of the sun.
01:34 Now, lifting heavy rocks wasn't so simple without the tech we have today.
01:39 I guess you'll agree with me if you helped your friends move at least once, and they
01:43 made you carry the couch.
01:45 But those smart Egyptians of the past thought of that and chose the pyramid shape.
01:50 It lets the weight distribute evenly throughout the whole thing.
01:54 The Statue of Liberty has also had a major makeover since it was first unveiled in 1886.
02:02 Believe it or not, it used to be a shiny brown color, just like a penny.
02:06 Twenty years later, it changed its color to green.
02:09 It wasn't a fashion statement, but a chemical reaction.
02:13 The statue is covered with hundreds of thin copper sheets.
02:17 When copper reacts with air, it naturally forms a protective layer called "vutigrees."
02:24 This layer protects what's under it from corrosion, and that's why statues and other things made
02:29 of copper, brass, and bronze can last so long.
02:33 When Lady Liberty first turned green, people in authority decided it would be a good idea
02:39 to paint it all over.
02:41 It was way before social media, so you couldn't just drop an angry comment under the post
02:47 describing the idea.
02:49 But they wrote about it in the local newspapers, and the public didn't love the idea.
02:54 Then the Times interviewed a copper and bronze manufacturer, and he confirmed they shouldn't
02:59 repaint it, because removing the protective layer would mean destroying the statue.
03:05 Over the years, people have suggested painting Lady Liberty several times, but no one has
03:10 ever done it.
03:11 I don't know about you, but I can't imagine that lady in any other color, so I guess it's
03:17 for the better.
03:19 You love bananas as much as I do?
03:23 Next time you enjoy a juicy soft one, remember you gotta thank selective breeding for that
03:28 texture!
03:30 The original wild bananas had many large, hard seeds and not so much delicious pulp.
03:36 And hey, who doesn't like a sugary watermelon?
03:40 It has a history of over 5,000 years, and it used to have bitter, yellowish-white flesh
03:47 and was really tricky to open.
03:50 Selective breeding saved the day again, and watermelons got way sweeter.
03:54 Japanese scientists went further and invented the seedless version.
04:00 Corn's grandmother is a Mexican grass called teosinte.
04:05 The kernels in this grass were small and hard to get.
04:09 Corns from many thousands of years ago saved the seeds only of those plants that were larger
04:14 or tastier or with kernels that were easier to grind.
04:19 Thanks my friends for giving us the corn that's edible and even delicious!
04:24 And just imagine, wild avocados were so small that they could easily fit in the palm of
04:29 your hand.
04:30 The pit in them was so large you wouldn't find much edible material inside.
04:35 They also had a much harder shell than the ones we're used to.
04:40 You probably wouldn't get a lot of work done without your beloved computer today, but I
04:45 can't tell you exactly whom to thank for this invention!
04:49 The ABC from 1942 is one of the contendants for the title of the first computer.
04:55 It's short for the Antanasoff-Berry Computer, named after its inventors at Iowa State University.
05:02 The ABC weighed over 700 pounds.
05:05 Yep, yours must be way lighter than that!
05:09 That big boy consisted of around 300 vacuum tubes and had a rotating drum, a little bigger
05:15 than a paint can, and had small capacitors on it.
05:19 A capacitor is a gadget that can store an electric charge, like a battery.
05:24 The ABC could solve problems with up to 29 different variables to help scientists save
05:30 some time.
05:32 Like modern computers, it used binary digits, ones and zeros, to represent all numbers and
05:37 data.
05:39 Because of that, it was possible to do the calculations electronically.
05:43 And now, my favorite part, the ABC finished one operation about every 15 seconds!
05:51 Just for you to compare, it's millions of operations per second now!
05:56 Unlike the tech we use today, the ABC did not have a changeable stored program.
06:02 So the program could only do a single task at a time.
06:06 An operator had to write down the intermediate answer and then dial that back into the computer.
06:13 Sounds like another reason to be happy we live in the 21st century!
06:18 That remote control you use for all sorts of appliances has gone a long way too.
06:24 Nikola Tesla, who gave us alternating current, designed one of the first wireless remote
06:29 controls back in 1898.
06:32 He named his invention "teleautomation" and demonstrated it on a miniature boat controlled
06:38 by radio waves.
06:40 The boat had a little metal antenna attached to it.
06:43 Tesla sent signals to the boat using a box with a lever and a telegraph key, which was
06:48 his version of a remote control.
06:51 Those signals set electrical contacts on the boat into motion and moved the rudder and
06:56 the propeller.
06:57 And Tesla was controlling the boat.
07:00 The concept of the remote control soon spread to other gadgets.
07:05 The first television remote control followed in 1950.
07:09 It was designed by the Zenith Radio Corporation, called "Lazy Bone".
07:14 Don't take it personally, please.
07:16 This Lazy Bone had a massive cable that was attached to the TV set, and those who tried
07:21 it didn't fall in love with the invention because they tripped over that cord.
07:25 I feel your pain, my friends.
07:29 If you live or work on one of the top floors, you gotta love this one.
07:34 Meet the first passenger elevator.
07:37 It traveled at the speed of 40 feet per minute.
07:40 Not the fastest, I know, compared to today's record, which is 40 feet per second.
07:45 But hey, it was built back in 1857 in New York and was more of a tourist attraction
07:51 than a necessity.
07:53 The elevator had a steam engine hidden in the basement of a five-story building.
07:58 Three years later, they shut it down because the public didn't appreciate it.
08:03 Otis Tufts filed the first patent for a vertical railway around the same time.
08:08 His invention included an actual car with a bench inside for people to sit on.
08:13 Sounds like a great spot to hang out with friends to me.
08:16 What do you say?
08:18 Then they started adding elevators to luxurious hotels around the world.
08:23 They were entire rooms with a rich design, upholstered seats and mirrors on the walls,
08:28 and sometimes even a small chandelier.
08:31 There was an obligatory operator who'd close the door and the car would start its super
08:36 slow ascent.
08:38 It was still more about style than about speed, so I guess I'd choose the stairs.
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