There are holidays that stand out from the ordinary. The birthday of the vacuum cleaner is one of them. It's not a national holiday, nor a religious ritual. It's a tribute to the unnoticed but faithful helper that extracts tons of dust, fur, and small stones from our homes every day. Think about it: when was the last time you said "thank you" to your vacuum cleaner? We never have. By the way, this appliance has its own birth date, and its history is full of drama, despair, and triumph. First Steps: From Broom to Mechanism Before the invention of the vacuum cleaner, humanity fought dirt with brooms, dusters, rags, and carpet beaters. It was hard, inefficient, and raised clouds of dust that settled back down. Even in ancient times, the Romans used something similar to a vacuum cleaner — devices for suctioning air with the wind. But serious attempts to mechanize cleaning began in the 19th century. The first "vacuum cleaners" were hand-operated, bulky, and required the participation of two people: one turned the valve, the other held the hose. They worked on the principle of suction, but were not very effective. Heroes of Invention: Hubert Cecil Booth and his "Puffing Billy" A breakthrough occurred in 1901 in London. English engineer Hubert Cecil Booth watched a demonstration of an American "vacuum cleaner" that blew dust away with a stream of air. Booth thought: "What if we don't blow, but suck?". He tried to pass air through a cloth from a chair — the cloth turned black. The idea was brilliant. Booth named his first vacuum cleaner "Puffing Billy". It was a huge wheelbarrow-like device powered by an internal combustion engine. It was harnessed to horses and brought to the house. A 30-meter-long hose was pushed through the window. Cleaning cost a fortune, but London's aristocrats lined up. By the way, Booth did not allow his vacuum cleaner to be washed and advertised it as "not spreading dirt, but removing it". Birthday: June 8, 1901 It was on June 8, 1901 tha ... Read more