History of Tops and Pulleys

Most recent answer: 10/22/2007

Q:
What is the history of the pulley? and what is the history of a spinning top? If there is someone that can give me a site to answer the above questions, I thank thee...=)
- Daniel (age 16)
EHIS, Vancouver
A:
  The origin of the pulley, like many simple machines, is unknown. There is a website at https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Pulley. It suggests that the pulley was used in Mesopotamia in 1500. Also, it also suggests that the inventor Archimedes used a machine similar to that of a pulley in 287-212 B.C.

According to , there really is no history of a spinning top, because nobody could really be sure who spun the first top. However, this website gives several examples of games from the past in different countries such as China, Japan, and others in Europe. The different games include tsa lin (tops) and the ko-en-gen (Diabolo), which were spun in China for centuries. The Dreidel is a top used to play a traditional Jewish Hanukkah game that dates back over 2000 years.

Gloria

(published on 10/22/2007)