Your Daily Facts about Glass
A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 10ml and 5 litres.
The history of glass can be traced back to at least 12,000 BC where glass coated objects have been found. Millions of glass bottles are created worldwide every day.
A glass bottle is 100% recyclable with many new bottles containing glass which was created over 20 years ago. Less energy is used in recycling a glass bottle than creating the glass from raw materials, helping the environment.
First glass known to exist is nature’s own glass, called Obsidian.
First manmade glass fabled as being made in 5000 B.C. by Phoenician sailors.
Glass didn’t come into general use until about 1500 B.C. and even then it was mostly used for beads and overlaying purposes.
Some hollow vessels were produced in the 1500 B.C. era by the core dip technique.
By 332 B.C. the Romans were making free blown bottles, using molds and were also reported to use raised embossed lettering on some vessels.
The Romans discovered manganese was good for decolorizing glass in the second century A.D.
Venice had so many furnaces burning by the thirteenth century that fire hazards mounted with each passing day and because of this the furnaces were moved to the Island of Murano where the population shot up to over 30,000 people.
The first U.S. glass house was established in the colonies in 1608-09, but it failed.
The first successful attempt occurred in Salem, Mass. And lasted from 1638 to 1661.
In 1645 another glass house was established in New Amsterdam, but what it produced seems to be a mystery. The actual spot where this glass house stood is now the site of the New York Stock Exchange.
First wooden mold bottles produced in the United States were about 1815.
Glass begins to melt at 750 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sixty to eighty per cent of regular household glass is sand.
There are four basic ways of handling glass: blowing, pressing, drawing and casting.
A blowpipe is usually four to five feet long with a knob on one end and a mouthpiece on the other end. It is used for free blown bottles.
Raw materials used in the making of glass require 2200 degrees Fahrenheit to 2900 degrees Fahrenheit.
Glass can now be produced to a tolerance of 1/10,000 of an inch.
Automobile safely glass was introduced in 1928.
Glass building blocks and fiber glass came into existence in 1931.
Silica Glass made of 100% sand has been produced but it is too expensive for normal production. This choice glass can withstand temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and extreme shocks.
96% silica glass was introduced in 1939 with many of the wonderful characteristics of pure silica glass, but it was much cheaper to produce.
Foam glass, produced in 1940 was so light it actually floated. It was very rigid, odorless, and fireproof and could be cut like wood.
Iron molds were introduced about the time of the Civil War.
The Corning Glass Co. has perfected a machine which can produce more than two million light bulbs in 24 hours. It is called the Corning Ribbon Machine.
Food cooks faster in glass cooking wares than in those made of metal because glass absorbs heat while metal reflects heat.
It is believed that man has utilized nature’s natural glass, obsidian, for tools and weapons since before 75,000 B.C.
One property of glass which is invaluable to industry is its resistance to corrosion. Glass will generally outlast almost any other product known to man.
First glass furnaces were small clay pots which were heated over wood fires. As years progressed, larger pots were built and the wood fuel was replaced by coal, gas, oil and finally electricity.
Tempered glass can be achieved by heating it to the softening point and then cooling it very quickly. This sudden changing of temperature can strengthen glass two to four times its original strength.