10 everyday things you see but didn’t know their purpose

When it comes to human inventions, almost everything has a purpose. However, there are small and big things that we interact with on a daily basis but never know what purpose they serve. Many will shock you and others will make you laugh. Here are 10 common things you never knew about their purpose.

Notebook margins

We have all started writing on books with two red lines running on either side of the page. Even though margins have been used to take extra notes or even feedback from teachers, that is not their intended purpose.

In the past, books were victims of rats that gnawed on their edges and the lines were placed there to ensure you never start writing on parts that would be breakfast for the rats.

Holes in padlocks

Most padlocks normally have two holes on the bottom side. As kids, many attempted to pick and unlock a padlock when you had lost the keys but the holes serve a basic but critical purpose. Padlocks are usually used to lock outdoor places like gates and sheds and with time due to the rain, they get out of order. Instead of buying a new lock, pour engine oil through the two holes and you’ll be surprised that your padlock goes back to new.

The hole in pen Caps

The hole in pen caps is one of the impressive life-saving inventions ever envisioned. When inventors started seeing children always having the caps in their mouths, they thought of the worst-case scenario. What if the child happened to swallow it??
And the answer led to the invention of the hole which will allow the child or adult to breathe if the cap accidentally made its way down the windpipe.

Stickers on fruits

In Kenya, the stickers are common on apples and even though many buy the fruit on a daily basis, what they don’t know is that the sticker carries very valuable information. \

Stickers mark the country of origin, the producer and even the method of production. For example, if it has four digits and the first number is 4 then its code that the fruit was treated with pesticides. If it has five digits and the first number is 8 then the fruit is genetically modified. If there are five digits with the first one being 9, it’s an organic fruit.

The small hole next to your smartphone’s camera or next to the earphone holes
It is found in different places in different smartphones. It’s mostly found next to the earphone hole or at the top of the phone but on an iPhone, the hole is between the camera and the flash.

The hole is mostly covert but serves a critical purpose of noise cancellation, quality sound recording and aids in voice recognition. According to phone companies, it called a rear microphone. It also allows the phone to have superior sound when recording outside by eliminating background noise.

The ridges on earphone and headphone jacks

They normally come in black or white strips on the end of jack pins and they don’t serve a decorative purpose. Without them, you would only hear sound from one earpiece.
They are also used for a tighter fit when plugged in.

Ridges on coins

Almost all coins in the world come with ridges. Kenyan denominations all come with ridged edges but the origin of this design was never about aesthetics.

The grooves first appeared in the 16th century. At the time coins were stamped in different types of metals of certain weights that represented their true value. They had smooth edges. People became smart and would shave off the edges reducing the weight and overtime cast new coins from the shaved parts.

The edges were introduced so that an individual could easily tell if the coin had been shaved. The tradition exists still today even though people don’t shave off coin edges.

Your fifth jeans pocket

The small pocket has been popular to store coins and even folded notes without fear of losing them but that wasn’t the purpose that drove its inventions.

When the jeans were invested in the 19th century, it was mainly worn buy miners due to its hard and favourable texture. Many miners had pocket watches that needed a safe, firm place in the jeans where they would be crashed and that led to the rise of the fifth pocket.

The pocket in women’s panties

Many women struggle trying to find a dress with pockets yet in almost all panties, there is a small pocket. Over the years, women have become creative to put some personal things such as a tampon in that small pocket but that was never its intended purpose.

The “pocket” is known as a gusset and is meant to protect the lady parts by allowing the area to be well ventilated and dry.

With most panties being made out of synthetic materials, the gusset which is made out of cotton provides a soft and cosy feel that protects the area from friction. It was intended to be sewn on both ends and due to manufacturers' unwillingness to spend extra on stitching one side, it became the “pocket” women know today.

Holes at the bottom of a lollipop stick

Kids and adults know very well the pleasure that comes with exploding flavours of lollipops in their mouths. However, the hole at the bottom isn’t for whistling but helps to keep the candy from falling off.

When hot, melted candy is poured into the mold, some of it seeps into the stick and seeps into the holes and when it hardens, it creates a firm final product.