The History Of Corkscrews, The Hidden Military Tools Of The Past

History reveals that corkscrews were once used as military tools to remove bullets. Who would have guessed? But besides that, the main purpose of a corkscrew is to unscrew corks from wine bottles, which is obvious from the name. Since humans started storing wine in bottles with corks, corkscrews have been essential for opening them. A brief search reveals images of ancient corkscrews, highlighting their rich historical legacy and evolution over centuries.

You see, a long time ago, guns weren’t very reliable and often had problems like bullets getting stuck inside them. If that happened, you couldn’t shoot again until you fixed it, which was dangerous if someone was shooting at you. To fix this, people invented a tool called a gun worm, which helped remove jammed bullets and blockages, making guns safer and more effective in battle.

Now, how do corkscrews tie into all of this?

The answer is synchronicity. Cork bottle stoppers followed the traditional route of human invention, meaning people started using them before they really knew what they were doing. In this particular case, it meant corks were used to secure bottles before there actually was a product to remove them, thus forcing people to just leave the cork half hanging out so they could grip it with pliers or whatever.

Back then, closing bottles tightly was tricky, so people often screwed their wine bottles on too tightly, breaking the corks in the process. A wine lover with military experience saw that a tool called a gun worm, used in battles, could be perfect for removing corks. Because soldiers sometimes found their weapons being used to open wine, it was a bit embarrassing. By the 17th century, they made a special tool called a corkscrew, based on the gun worm, just for opening wine bottles easily.