Good ol’ revolving doors; I saw them a lot growing up whenever I went to visit New York City. Kids love spinning things, so of course, I always wanted to run through them while my parents just used the normal door to the side. Revolving doors weren’t made just to entertain children, though.
An inventor by the name of Theophilus Van Kannel concocted the first revolving doorway back in 1888. It was a great idea since it kept cool air inside buildings and lowered air pressure, which reduced energy costs. That wasn’t the reason he built it, though; if there was one thing that irritated the heck out of Van Kannel, it was walking up to a door in public at the same time as someone else and getting into a staredown over who should open it. It’s a gripe many people still have today, but Van Kannel was the one who actually did something about it.
Of course, as I mentioned before, even if there’s a revolving door present, most folk will still use the regular door since it’s what they’re used to. That’s the tough thing about coming up with a good idea; it needs to be so good that it triumphs over peoples’ laziness.
Image Source: Pixabay
