My Cup Runneth

Troy, New York, April 22, 1884 - "I am aware that corkscrews have been constructed with a tight-fitting cup, upon a screwshank adapted to draw the cork up into the cup by revolving the screw after the cup comes in contact with the bottle; but the usefulness of such a form of construction was greatly impaired and often destroyed by the difficulty experienced in removing the cork from the cup after it has been drawn from the bottle." Those were the words of Thomas Curley, a Troy resident, in his application for a new corkscrew patent.

A mere two months have passed since Curley filed his application. And now he has been granted United States Patent Number 297,232. His invention centers around a loose fit cup controlled by a pin on the shank riding in slots in the cup. Once the cork has been extracted, simply repositioning the cup on the pin will enable the user to easily turn the cork off the screw.

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Earth Day

Clear Lake, Wisconsin - On this day in 1970 Senator Gaylord Nelson founded "Earth Day." It all started in 1962 when the Senator decided to elevate concerns of the environment to the point of total national awareness. He went directly to the top, to JFK, to try to convince him to take a conservation tour. And in September of 1963 President Kennedy took a somewhat unsuccessful five day tour of eleven states.

Nelson was frustrated because the people were aware of environmental problems but politicians ignored the problem. In 1969 Nelson started a campaign for "Earth Day" and targeted April 22, 1970 as the official day. His campaign was a success and April 22 became "Earth Day" thereafter.

The staff of The Daily Screw will mark Earth Day by opening a bottle of wine with this roundlet corkscrew which has a Earth Globe on one end. It was purchased in South Korea in 1995 for 72.75 Won.

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What are these?

Answers will appear in tomorrow's edition of The Daily Screw. These three are courtesy of Alf Erickson.

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Answer to Yesterday's "What is this?"

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News Index

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