WHAT ARTICLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ? LET US KNOW : EDITOR @ GEMCELL . COM . AU
THE POSITIVITY ISSUE
TOOL IN FOCUS THE HAMMER THE ORIGINAL AND THE BEST .
MC HAMMER Stanley Kirk Burrell is the real name of the late 80s rapper MC Hammer . Everyone remembers ‘ Can ’ t touch this ’, but unless you ’ re a Hammerite you ’ re unlikely to recall much more of Stanley ’ s back catalogue . He ’ s owned stables that trained thoroughbred racehorses , he became an ordained christian minister – officiating the weddings of some celebs including Corey Feldman and Susie Sprague and Motley Crue ’ s Vince Neil and Lia Gerardini . Bet he didn ’ t utter his immortal lines during those ceremonies , though .
|
Think your hammer ’ s old ? Try this one . In 2015 , archeologists discovered a hammer in northern Kenya that was 3.3 MILLION years old . And they didn ’ t find just the one , either . Oh no , they found 149 of the bad boys .
Back in the day ( waaaaaay back in the day ), the hammer stone was used to split other , more brittle bones , into tools for cutting and killing .
Over the years that followed , the hammer evolved – bones and wood were used as handles , while leather or other material was used to bind the hammer stone to the handle , improving the range of motion and increasing the force with which the hammer stone could apply .
During the bronze age , hammers were made from – you guessed it – and during the iron age … yep , top marks again .
During those times , hammers were commonly used by blacksmiths and carpenters , and also in combat – a warhammer circling through the air would certainly cause a serious bit of damage , wouldn ’ t it ?
Since then , trades of all kinds have adapted and evolved the hammer for their own specific purposes . Today , from
|
|
|
|
sledgehammers to a gavel , there are more than 55 varieties of hammer to choose from today .
It ’ s a staple of any selfrespecting tradie ’ s toolkit – and it ’ s probably the oldest tool around . And , while the concept ’ s been evolved and different adaptations been made , the principle of the concept remains unchanged all of those years later .
HAMMER THROW Part of the men ’ s Olympic line up since 1900 , the hammer throw is the third throwing event – after the shot put and discus . The hammer weighs 7.26 kg ( a neat 16 pounds in old money ) and the object of the event is simple . Launch it as far as you possibly can . The men ’ s world record is held by Sergey Litvinov , who threw it 82.29m in 1988 . Women weren ’ t allowed to throw the hammer in the Olympics until the competition was held here in 2000 . Throwing a 4kg hammer , the women ’ s world record of 84.80m is held by Anita Wlodarczyk in 2016 . ( This information is correct prior to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics !)
WARHAMMER No , not the one that literally splits skulls – this Warhammer is a game that has been played since first gaining popularity in the late 1980s . Essentially a miniature figure war game , Warhammer is the most popular game of this type in the world ( although we ’ re not sure just how much competition it has . It could also be the least popular , too .) Hostile aliens , supernatural creatures and futuristic weapons all feature , and it ’ s spawned all manner of spin offs – board games , video games , movies , TV shows , novels and merch .
THOR ’ S HAMMER In Norse mythology , Thor is the god of thunder and his hammer – called Mjölnir – has the power of lightning . It ’ s versatile – it can be used as either a devastating weapon or a diving instrument to provide blessings . It would certainly keep people guessing , at any rate . n
AUG – SEP 2021 GEMCELL . COM . AU 37