And yesterday, while out walking the dog I saw that the kids had started flying their kites.
Lolo showed me how to make a kite similar to what is flown here, but nowadays we have all sorts of kites being flown by the kids: plain kites, box kites, decorative kites etc.
here is a video of kids flying their home made kites:
so who invented kites? The Chinese of course, over 2000 years ago.
from national kite month webapge:
The exact date and origin of the kite is not known but it is believed that they were flown in China more than two thousand years ago. One legend suggests that when a Chinese farmer tied a string to his hat to keep it from blowing away in a strong wind, the first kite was born....
it then spread all over, including down the trade routes to the west. The earliest record of kite use was in China 200 BC when it was used in war. Full history at the link.
wikipedia however notes that a cave painting from 9000 BC found in Indonesia depicted a kite similar in design to kites still used in that area, LINK2 and is still made from leaves and bamboo in that area. Before Islam, locals used kites to carry messages to heaven, but now use them recreationally.
so maybe the Chinese borrowed the idea from them.
Video on Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment.
his invention of the lightning rod probably saved many lives.
altogether now:
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