Funny Holidays - Thermos Bottle Day

In 1892, Scottish physicist and chemist James Dewar began using a vessel with vacuum walls for storing liquefied gases for his experiments. The flask turned out to be such an effective means of thermal insulation that its design formed the basis of a thermos. The isothermal portable device was patented in 1902 by the company of the same name, Thermos, because James Dewar was unable to defend the rights to his invention. A flask with double walls, between which there is no air, has become an indispensable thing, actively used in camping conditions, at work and during rest. Therefore, every year on February 26, Thermos Day is celebrated. During Thermos Bottle Day, people around the world pay tribute to more than just the bottles that keep food and drinks hot or cold for a long time. Today, the principle of thermal insulation is used to make thermal bags, thermal mugs and other products. These things are indispensable in a situation where a person does not have the opportunity to prepare coffee, tea or cocoa, or heat food. Depending on the design, a thermos made from modern materials maintains temperature from 5-6 to 48 hours. The larger the volume of the flask, the longer its contents will remain cold or hot. It cannot be said unequivocally that the German Reinhold Burger, the founder of Thermos, stole the idea of ​​James Dewar. In fact, the author of the invention is not a Scottish scientist. Dewar borrowed the development of physicist Adolf Ferdinand Weinhold, who was the first to use glass vessels placed one inside the other without air between them for his laboratory experiments. Since 1894, R. Burger has been producing Dewar flasks at his glass factory. In order to satisfy the request of another customer, the inventor of ice generators, the businessman began experimenting with the vacuum vessels he was already producing. As a result of experiments, R. Burger realized that the temperature of not only gases, but also liquids is well preserved in flasks. Even after 24 hours, the drinks remained warm, as if they had been freshly prepared. The manufacturer improved the design, developed a formula for a more durable silver coating on the walls of the vessels, added a stopper and made the body metal. This is how the first thermos appeared, which in many respects differed significantly from Dewar’s invention. In 1906, R. Burger, together with two partners, founded the company Thermos GmbH, which was engaged in the production of vacuum bottles. Thermoses were taken on airship flights by the aeronaut Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, and by the explorers of the North Pole and Antarctica in the 1900s, Robert Peri and Ernst Shackleton. R. Burger's company supplied components for bottles to subsidiaries located in the USA, Canada, England and other countries. Later, parts for thermoses stopped being imported, and over time, other manufacturers began producing vacuum-insulated bottles. It is difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without Dewar’s unique invention, which was used for commercial purposes by R. Burger. That is why Thermos Day is celebrated all over the world on February 26th.