A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof or vehicle that lets in light and air. It is usually filled with a sheet of glass.
HISTORY
Located in southern Anatolia, in modern day Turkey, the Neolithic town of Catal Huyuk had rectangular rooms with windows in the seventh millennium BC.
Window glass was first used in the Roman Empire in the late first century AD. The technology was likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria.
Benedict Biscop (c. 628 – 690), founder of the monastery at Wearmouth, is said to have introduced stone edifices and glass windows to England. He bought builders and glass-workers from continental Europe to help erect the building, thus introducing stone edifices and glass windows to his home country.
In Saxon buildings, during the Dark Ages, windows were mere holes in a wall, covered by shutters or some kind of curtain. The hole served a three-fold purpose. It let in light and air. The hole also served as an outlet for smoke from the large fire used for heating and cooking. Thirdly, like an eye, it enabled people inside the house to look out. Thus window, a combination of Anglo-Saxon words, means "wind's eye."
In England windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century.
 |
| Pixiebay |
HISTORY
Located in southern Anatolia, in modern day Turkey, the Neolithic town of Catal Huyuk had rectangular rooms with windows in the seventh millennium BC.
Window glass was first used in the Roman Empire in the late first century AD. The technology was likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria.
 |
| Fragment of a Roman glass window By Bullenwächter |
Benedict Biscop (c. 628 – 690), founder of the monastery at Wearmouth, is said to have introduced stone edifices and glass windows to England. He bought builders and glass-workers from continental Europe to help erect the building, thus introducing stone edifices and glass windows to his home country.
In Saxon buildings, during the Dark Ages, windows were mere holes in a wall, covered by shutters or some kind of curtain. The hole served a three-fold purpose. It let in light and air. The hole also served as an outlet for smoke from the large fire used for heating and cooking. Thirdly, like an eye, it enabled people inside the house to look out. Thus window, a combination of Anglo-Saxon words, means "wind's eye."
In England windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century.
In Gloucester cathedral there's a stained-glass window the size of a tennis court. At 38 feet (11.58 meters) by 72 feet (21.95 meters), it was the largest window in the world when it was built in the 1350s.
By the fifteenth century, glazed windows had become a feature of the richer homes of northern Europe.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England in the latter half of the sixteenth century, windows were not yet plate glass but lattice. They occupied a much larger area of the wall space than in former times and let floods of light in.
The west side of Burghley House in Lincolnshire was designed so that when Elizabeth I arrived the windows would reflect the setting sun, and it would look like there was a fire in each one.
The fashion for glass windows (expensive and therefore a status symbol) is seen in extreme form in Hardwick Hall, built in England in the 1590s. The Derbyshire stately home, created by Bess of Hardwick, has 1403 mullions, made up of 140,000 individual pieces of glass. The house's appearance gives rise to the jingle "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall."
The double-hung sash window was introduced in England in the 1670s and soon spread to the Netherlands. Along with the vertical sliding sash window it became standard in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Modern windows are often made with double or triple thicknesses of glass separated by air space for insulation; these are called double- or triple-glazed windows.
In 1696, William III of England introduced a window tax to pay for the losses of the great recoinage of 1695. It cost two shillings per house, plus extra payments for every window more than ten.
Window tax was retained - and increased six times in the 18th century in England, particularly by William Pitt the Younger. The tax was eventually applied to all windows in excess of six. To avoid it, many householders would brick up all windows except six
The window tax was extended to Scotland in 1784 under William Pitt the Younger. As the bricked-up windows prevented rooms from receiving any sunlight it was described as a "tax on light and air" and led to the expression "daylight robbery".
Because of the window tax, many new houses were built with few windows or people would close up existing windows. When people began to suffer health problems from lack of fresh air, the tax was finally repealed on July 24, 1851.
Witch windows, which exist mostly in Vermont, were created due to the belief that witches couldn't fly broomsticks through slanted windows.
The first all glass, windowless building was completed in Toledo, Ohio in 1936 as the home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory.
When the telecommunications entrepreneur Robert A. Brooks had his corporate headquarters built in St. Louis, the arrangement of windows spelled out "Brooks Fiber Properties" in Morse code.
The single blade window cleaning squeegee was invented by Ettore Sceccone in 1936 and is still the most common form of commercial window cleaning today.
Before glass was used in windows, people in Asia used paper to fill the hole in the wall. The paper would let light in.
Airplane windows were once square until three fatal crashes in the 1950's were caused by the windows. Corners are weak points (four on a window) and stress/pressure can cause these points to crack.
In 1993, lawyer Garry Hoy attempted to show that the windows in a building were nearly unbreakable by running into one at full speed. The window was knocked out of its frame and Hoy fell with it to his death. However, the window did not break.
There are 760 windows in Buckingham Palace. The windows are cleaned every six weeks.
The George Hotel in Hull claims to have the smallest window in England.
York Minster has the largest medieval stained glass window in Great Britain.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Britannica
By the fifteenth century, glazed windows had become a feature of the richer homes of northern Europe.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England in the latter half of the sixteenth century, windows were not yet plate glass but lattice. They occupied a much larger area of the wall space than in former times and let floods of light in.
The west side of Burghley House in Lincolnshire was designed so that when Elizabeth I arrived the windows would reflect the setting sun, and it would look like there was a fire in each one.
The fashion for glass windows (expensive and therefore a status symbol) is seen in extreme form in Hardwick Hall, built in England in the 1590s. The Derbyshire stately home, created by Bess of Hardwick, has 1403 mullions, made up of 140,000 individual pieces of glass. The house's appearance gives rise to the jingle "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall."
 |
| Hardwick Hall in Doe Lea - Derbyshire Wikipedia |
The double-hung sash window was introduced in England in the 1670s and soon spread to the Netherlands. Along with the vertical sliding sash window it became standard in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Modern windows are often made with double or triple thicknesses of glass separated by air space for insulation; these are called double- or triple-glazed windows.
WINDOW TAX
In 1696, William III of England introduced a window tax to pay for the losses of the great recoinage of 1695. It cost two shillings per house, plus extra payments for every window more than ten.
Window tax was retained - and increased six times in the 18th century in England, particularly by William Pitt the Younger. The tax was eventually applied to all windows in excess of six. To avoid it, many householders would brick up all windows except six
 |
| A house in , Southampton, with bricked-up spaces in place of windows By Whilesteps |
The window tax was extended to Scotland in 1784 under William Pitt the Younger. As the bricked-up windows prevented rooms from receiving any sunlight it was described as a "tax on light and air" and led to the expression "daylight robbery".
Because of the window tax, many new houses were built with few windows or people would close up existing windows. When people began to suffer health problems from lack of fresh air, the tax was finally repealed on July 24, 1851.
FUN WINDOW FACTS
Witch windows, which exist mostly in Vermont, were created due to the belief that witches couldn't fly broomsticks through slanted windows.
The first all glass, windowless building was completed in Toledo, Ohio in 1936 as the home of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company Laboratory.
When the telecommunications entrepreneur Robert A. Brooks had his corporate headquarters built in St. Louis, the arrangement of windows spelled out "Brooks Fiber Properties" in Morse code.
The single blade window cleaning squeegee was invented by Ettore Sceccone in 1936 and is still the most common form of commercial window cleaning today.
Before glass was used in windows, people in Asia used paper to fill the hole in the wall. The paper would let light in.
Airplane windows were once square until three fatal crashes in the 1950's were caused by the windows. Corners are weak points (four on a window) and stress/pressure can cause these points to crack.
In 1993, lawyer Garry Hoy attempted to show that the windows in a building were nearly unbreakable by running into one at full speed. The window was knocked out of its frame and Hoy fell with it to his death. However, the window did not break.
There are 760 windows in Buckingham Palace. The windows are cleaned every six weeks.
The George Hotel in Hull claims to have the smallest window in England.
York Minster has the largest medieval stained glass window in Great Britain.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Britannica
No comments:
Post a Comment