Things You Wouldn't Recognize in the Past

Bright Side

Ever wonder how things looked way back in the day? Take the Pyramids of Giza – they used to be covered in shiny white limestone, making them sparkle in the sun. The Statue of Liberty wasn't always green; she started out as a shiny copper color but turned green over time due to oxidation. And get this, early elevators were operated by hand-cranked mechanisms, nothing like the smooth rides we have today. Even remote controls were once clunky, wired devices before they became the sleek, wireless gadgets we can't live without. It's wild to think how much these things have changed over the years!

Transcript

00:00If someone finally invents time travel and hop on a trip to the past,

00:05you won't recognize many of the things you know and love today.

00:09The Statue of Liberty and the Egyptian pyramids, some basic gadgets like the remote control

00:15and your laptop, and even the corn you have for lunch have all changed beyond recognition.

00:21When the pyramids were originally built in ancient Egypt and Giza and other places,

00:26they didn't look sandy brown at all. All of them were covered with white limestone.

00:32If you had seen them under the hot African sun, you'd have to look away.

00:35That's how smooth and shiny they were. Builders used around 6 million tons of this

00:40material for the Great Pyramid of Giza alone. It's the largest one you can still see on your trip to

00:46Egypt. The local rules were quite a thrifty crowd, and they reused some of the casing stones for other

00:52construction projects. A massive earthquake in the 14th century has also loosened some of the stones,

00:59so you won't see a lot of limestone, but some of it is still there, on top of the Pyramid of Hafrik,

01:05in Giza. It looks like it has a second peak on top of the first. In ancient times,

01:11all pyramids used to have capstones called Pyramidians, covered in a mix of gold and silver.

01:18Most of them have been lost over the centuries, but you can still see a few of them at museums.

01:23They show images of Egyptian deities. The pyramids were probably modeled after a sacred pointed stone,

01:30the Benbe. It represented the rays of the sun. Now, lifting heavy rocks wasn't so simple without

01:37the tech we have today. I guess you'll agree with me if you helped your friends move at least once,

01:43and they made you carry the couch. But those smart Egyptians of the past thought of that

01:48and chose the pyramid shape. It lets the weight distribute evenly throughout the whole thing.

01:54The Statue of Liberty has also had a major makeover since it was first unveiled in 1886.

02:01Believe it or not, it used to be a shiny brown color, just like a penny. 20 years later, it changed its

02:08color to green. It wasn't a fashion statement, but a chemical reaction. The statue is covered with

02:14hundreds of thin copper sheets. When copper reacts with air, it naturally forms a protective layer

02:21called vodegrees. This layer protects what's under it from corrosion, and that's why statues and other

02:28things made of copper, brass and bronze can last so long. When Lady Liberty first turned green,

02:36people in authority decided it would be a good idea to paint it all over. It was way before social

02:43media, so you couldn't just drop an angry comment under the post describing the idea. But they wrote

02:49about it in the local newspapers, and the public didn't love the idea. Then the Times interviewed a

02:56copper and bronze manufacturer, and he confirmed they shouldn't repaint it, because removing the

03:01protective layer would mean destroying the statue. Over the years, people have suggested painting Lady

03:08Liberty several times, but no one has ever done it. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine that

03:14lady in any other color, so I guess it's for the better. Do you love bananas as much as I do?

03:22Next time you enjoy a juicy soft one, remember, you gotta thank selective breeding for that texture.

03:30The original wild bananas had many large hard seeds, and not so much delicious pulp. And hey,

03:37who doesn't like a sugary watermelon? It has a history of over 5,000 years, and it used to have bitter,

03:45yellowish white flesh and was really tricky to open. Selective breeding saved the day again,

03:52and watermelons got way sweeter. Japanese scientists went further and invented the seedless version.

03:59Corin's grandmother is a Mexican grass called Teosinti. The kernels in this grass were small and hard to get.

04:08Farmers from many thousands of years ago saved the seeds only of those plants that were larger or

04:14tastier or with kernels that were easier to grind. Thanks my friends for giving us the corn that's

04:21edible and even delicious. And just imagine, wild avocados were so small that they could easily fit

04:28in the palm of your hand. The pit in them was so large you wouldn't find much edible material inside.

04:35They also had a much harder shell than the ones we're used to. You probably wouldn't get a lot of

04:42work done without your beloved computer today, but I can't tell you exactly whom to thank for this

04:47invention. The ABC from 1942 is one of the contendents for the title of the first computer.

04:55It's short for the Atanasoff Berry Computer, named after its inventors at Iowa State University.

05:02The ABC weighed over 700 pounds. Yep, yours must be way lighter than that.

05:08That big boy consisted of around 300 vacuum tubes and had a rotating drum, a little bigger than a

05:15paint can, and had small capacitors on it. A capacitor is a gadget that can store an electric charge,

05:23like a battery. The ABC could solve problems with up to 29 different variables to help scientists save

05:30some time. Like modern computers, it used binary digits, ones and zeros, to represent all numbers

05:37and data. Because of that, it was possible to do the calculations electronically. And now, my favorite

05:44part, the ABC finished one operation about every 15 seconds. Just for you to compare, it's millions of

05:53operations per second now. Unlike the tech we use today, the ABC did not have a changeable stored

06:01program. So, the program could only do a single task at a time. An operator had to write down the

06:08intermediate answer and then dial that back into the computer. Sounds like another reason to be happy

06:14we live in the 21st century. That remote control you use for all sorts of appliances has gone a long

06:22way too. Nikola Tesla, who gave us alternating current, designed one of the first wireless remote

06:29controls back in 1898. He named his invention tele-automation and demonstrated it on a miniature boat

06:37controlled by radio waves. The boat had a little metal antenna attached to it. Tesla sent signals to the

06:44boat using a box with a lever and a telegraph key, which was his version of a remote control. Those

06:51signals set electrical contacts on the boat into motion and moved the rudder and the propeller. And

06:57Tesla was controlling the boat. The concept of the remote control soon spread to other gadgets.

07:05The first television remote control followed in 1950. It was designed by the Zenith Radio Corporation,

07:11called Lazy Bone. Don't take it personally, please. This Lazy Bone had a massive cable that was attached

07:19to the TV set. And those who tried it didn't fall in love with the invention because they tripped over

07:24that cord. I feel your pain, my friends. If you live or work on one of the top floors, you gotta love this

07:33one. Meet the first passenger elevator. It traveled at the speed of 40 feet per minute. Not the fastest, I know.

07:41compared to today's record, which is 40 feet per second. But hey, it was built back in 1857 in New

07:49York and was more of a tourist attraction than a necessity. The elevator had a steam engine hidden

07:55in the basement of a five-story building. Three years later, they shut it down because the public

08:00didn't appreciate it. Otis Tufts filed the first patent for a vertical railway around the same time.

08:08His invention included an actual car with a bench inside for people to sit on. Sounds like a great

08:14spot to hang out with friends to me. What do you say? Then they started adding elevators to luxurious

08:20hotels around the world. They were entire rooms with a rich design, upholstered seats and mirrors on

08:27the walls, and sometimes even a small chandelier. There was an obligatory operator who'd close the

08:34door and the car would start its super slow ascent. It was still more about style than about speed,

08:41so I guess I'd choose the stairs.

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