Things aren’t always want they seem to be, especially when it comes to everyday products you use. What you thought had a clear-cut function, actually may have had a different purpose when it was first created.
Everyone loves a Slinky, but not everybody realises it was initially made as a device for testing horsepower on battleships! Marine engineer, Richard James, designed the meter with the idea that the helical springs would help stabilize the contraption during heavy seas. While working at his desk, he accidentally knocked it over, and that was all it took to realize he’d created something that was going to entertain kids for centuries!
