Variations on the game of handball have been played all over the world for thousands of years. Known as one of the oldest ball games, handball was played in Egypt over four thousand years ago, in ancient Rome, and by many South American cultures.
The ancient Egyptians played a variety of ball games. Drawings of Egyptians playing handball have been found decorating five thousand year old tombs at Saqqara, which depict girls in teams of two playing the game. Balls used in Egyptian handballs were designed to be both light and durable – they were made of a leather skin stuffed with hay or other plant fibers such as papyrus.
In the Roman Empire, the game was called expulsim ludere, and was played on courts called sphaeristas. Alexander the Great is said to have been responsible for spreading the game amongst Greek colonies in Italy in the first millennium BC, and from there it spread to other countries of the Roman Empire. Details of how the game was played during this era are sketchy, but it is believed it was similar to what is known today as one-wall handball.
In France during the Middle Ages, the game was called jeux de paume (palm play) and was popular with both nobility and peasants. The ball was made from pieces of tightly-rolled cloth stitched together, and as the game evolved gloves were used to allow more forceful hitting of the ball. This form of handball is thought to be an early precursor of tennis – as the game evolved in France, players began to use larger and larger gloves, until eventually they began to use items which resembled early tennis racquets.
In America, handball is over three thousand years old, and originated in Mexico. Handball players are depicted on painted pottery items, sculptures, and wall paintings found at archeological sites in many parts of Central America. Of the games played by these ancient civilizations, the one which most closely resembles modern handball is Rebotea a mano con pelota dura, or “Hardball pelota rebounded with the hand”. This game was played by the Chichimeca people, on courts measuring 20 feet by 40 feet. Many ancient ruins sites in Central America contain such courts, and together with the multitude of art which depicts the game, indicates that it was an important part of life for these ancient cultures.
These days, handball is an increasingly popular sport – it has become part of the Olympic Games, and many international tournaments are dedicated to handball – not surprisingly, the Egyptian team is known to be very talented, perhaps because of all the civilizations in the world, they have been playing it the longest!
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The Fascinating History of Handball
DIY Heat Shrink Film Wrapping
Have you ever wanted to wrap something like they do at the retail stores? Make it look like a professional package or enhance the appearance and value of any product? Not only will it protect any product from dirt, moisture, dust, and even handling but now you can do it yourself! Regardless if you’ve been yearning to give that special someone a mixed CD (or even a used one from your collection), there are some simple ways to create and package those products to look like new for fairly cheap.
You are going to need shrink film wrapping bags, a heat gun, and a shrink wrap machine. The most expensive product that you are going to have to invest in is the heat gun and shrink wrap machine. The heat gun is a device used to emit a stream of hot air. They are superficially similar in shape and construction to a hair dryer, though they run at much higher temperatures. Sometimes if your blow dryer gets hot enough, this will suffice. I have seen some folks use blow dryers and at times it works-but be careful and make sure that you don’t blow the motor or over heat your blow dryer.
Shrink wrapping machinery used to only be found in industrial warehouse or factories. They were cumbersome machines are required a lot of people who can operate it. But this is not the case anymore! Small shrink wrap machines are now available for use by individuals and small businesses. These are quite inexpensive and you can usually find one them for as low as $20 on ebay. Wrap whatever you need to shrink wrap in the shrink film wrapping; separate and cube the product in the shrink wrap machine; and finally heat it up with the heat gun or hair dryer. Be careful that the product is heated thoroughly and to not burn your fingers when shrinking the plastic.
Heat Shrink Sleeves and How it Helps Our Pipes
No matter where you go, whether walking in the streets (underground in this case) or an advanced industrial factory such as a manufacturing plant for steel, there will always be pipes. Pipes need protection since they are constantly exposed to possible corrosion threats such as excessive heat and pressure. The solution is as conceivable as protecting it with heat shrink sleeve. If the sleeve was not created then pipes would need to be frequently replaced and a lot of resources would be wasted.
The Heat shrink sleeve is a like a shield for a pipe protecting it from excessive heat. If temperatures get extremely high as they would in somewhere such as an oil refinery, then they can easily overheat and lose shape, possibly destroying the entire pipeline. It also acts as a shield against corrosives such as water or dirt in more everyday use such as in local neighborhoods: the sleeve keeps the metal in the pipes from being corroded away from water or sediment.
Since most pipes tend to be underground, they are under great amounts of pressure in terms of weight as well. Heat shrink sleeves help combat the pressure: once wrapped around the pipe, the strength greatly increases and the pressure will have a significantly lesser affect in terms of damage.
The heat shrink sleeve is a great invention which greatly helped our society’s plumbing and help save resources by strengthening them. If this great creation did not exists, then we would constantly need to change our pipes and many problems would come of this long and expensive procedure.