17 May: Rubber Band Day

May 17th is the rubber band Day! Obviously, one day we will celebrate the inconspicuous things that we take for granted around the house.

1. The alternative name for rubber band are lackey band, binder, elastic band, gum band or laggy band.

2.Mayans and Aztecs began using rubber bands as early as 1600 BC

3.The rubber band we know today was patented by Stephen Perry in the UK on March 17, 1845.

4.Many rubber products are made of synthetic rubber, but rubber bands not made of this. Due to their elasticity, they are still made of natural rubber. The rubber is initiates the vulcanization process by mixed with sulfur. This reinforces and stabilizes the rubber so at low temperatures it does not become brittle. Heat the rubber to 260 degrees Celsius and then rolled out it like a pie dough. The sheet is made into a thin tube; the thin tube is to produce a rubber band.

5.They have several sizes. The rubber band has three basic dimensions: width, thickness and length. The sizes are given numbers for marketing purposes. The rubber bands numbered 8-19 are 1/16 inch wide and 7/8 inches to 31⁄2 inches long. Rubber band numbers 30-34 are 1/8 inch wide. For bands longer than 32 inches, the number is greater than 100 and starts again at a width of 1/16 inch.

6.The physical characteristics. Rubber has unusual properties because cooling causes the large rubber bands to expansion, while heating cause shrink. When the rubber band is stretched, it releases heat, which is why it feels warm if the rubber band is stretched and placed on the lips. Release it after stretching to absorb heat and cooling the environment.

7.In British, Royal Mail may be the largest user of colored rubber bands. They use nearly one billion rubber bands each year to tie a bundle of letters together in the sorting office - every 28 letters use a rubber band. This caused to much littering around the year 2004, because they tend to drop them when mailing them. Royal Mail's make the rubber band red to solve this problem, so if someone drops the rubber band, they are more likely to find and pick the rubber band up. They have returned to brown since 2010.

8.Some animals have hate rubber bands. Small animals like hedgehogs are also stuck in with their heads, and farmers use them for cast cutting. They cut off the blood supply to the animal's testicles by thick rubber bands, causing them atrophy and drop off.

9. Other uses for color rubber bands include: hair bands, guitar strings, teddy bear bungee jumping, bracelets, bicycle clips, anti-slip device for spoon, pencil top eraser, belt extender, pan handle cover, open Cans, assistant memos, in exchange for stamps (good luck), gardening ropes, and of course for small free-flying model aircraft.

10. Joel Waul from Florida spent six years making the world's largest rubber band ball. The ball is 6 feet 7 inches high and weighs 9,032 pounds, twice the size of previous record holders. Eventually, his neighbors were tired of standing in his lane (it was said to be stinky and very tired), so Joel had to get rid of it. He found a willing new owner in Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" magazine, he already has the largest strings and wire tennis. Ripley's vice president, Edward Meyer, said: "I think this is my trinity now." They had to take it with a crane.