The Tote’m Stores, How does a lighter work? and all important Keeling curve.
Also: 'Rajju-Bhai-Padma-Bhushan-wale.
The evils caused by the intoxicating drinks are lesser, when compared to the evils caused by religious fanaticism. Liquor spoils only when consumed. Religion spoils you the moment you think of it. - E.V.R Periyar
You’re reading the third edition of TheCuriosity! TheCuriosity is an email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Saturday. Sourcing ideas from an eclectic mix of current affairs, science, philosophy, technology, history, and sometimes even spirituality.
😑 A Quiz.
Morocco was first to recognise them in 1777, followed by The United Provinces of the Netherlands 1782. Today, everyone looks to them for Global recognition. What are we talking about?
🔖 Short Takes
ST3.1 The Tote’m Stores
In 1927 “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green started selling milk, bread, and eggs from the dock of the Southland Ice Company where he worked, often on Sundays and evenings when regular grocery stores were closed, and this proved to be very profitable. He also theorized that selling products such as bread and milk in convenience stores would reduce the need for customers to travel long distances for basic items. This is how arguably, the modern world’s convenience store was born. The story doesn’t end here.
Within 10 years, Southland Ice Company had opened 60 such outlets selling basic staples—everything from canned goods to cold watermelon. And, by 1937, the chain of such convenience stores was called Tote’m Stores, because customers "toted" away their purchases. Some stores featured genuine Alaskan totem poles in front. In 1946, Tote’m Stores changed its name to 7-Eleven, reflecting its extended business hours–7am to 11pm, seven days a week.
The company entered franchising in 1964, signed its first United States area licensing agreement in 1968. Within a year 7-Eleven became the first convenience chain to go global, first in Canada then Mexico, and soon Japan and other Asian markets. When Dallas-based 7-Eleven encountered financial difficulties in 1991, its own highly successful Japanese subsidiary bailed it out, buying a majority stake. In 2003 almost 80% of 7-Eleven’s 24,400 stores were located outside of the United States. In 2005, 7-Eleven Japan created Tokyo-based Seven & I Holdings, which acquired the remaining shares of 7-Eleven.
In February 2019, Future Retail had signed a master franchise agreement with 7-Eleven Inc. to develop and operate 7-Eleven stores in India. But this year they terminated their agreement, given their troubles and were replaced by Reliance retail.
ST3.2 How does a lighter work?
Two English engineers, Wise and Greenwood, came up with the first design for a compact lighter, prompted by the fact that one of them, Greenwood, had lost an arm in the war and it was impossible to light a cigarette one-handed with matches. Their petrol lighter featured a wheel, fitted horizontally instead of vertically, which could be operated with ease with one hand. Wise and Greenwood sold the design to the Dunhill company, who produced a prototype using a Colman’s mustard tin, and went on in 1924 to market the finished product as ‘the Unique’ – the world’s first luxury lighter that could be held and operated in one hand. But, all this was way before lighter became cigarette smoker’s indispensable companion and a pop culture collection item, since the Butane version was yet to get started.
Largely due to the convenience of pressurized butane lighters, men have traditionally not thought very much about the ways in which the modern lighter works. So, before we start, let’s understand more about Butane. It is a flammable, colorless gas that follows propane in the alkane series. It is used as a fuel, an aerosol propellant, in cigarette lighters, and to make other chemicals.
Butane is extracted from natural gas and is also obtained during petroleum refining. Butane can be obtained from natural gas by compression, adsorption, or absorption. All three processes were used in the early days of the LPG industry, but compression and adsorption were generally phased out during the 20th century. Most butane now is obtained from absorption and separation from oil. Very little butane is obtained from distillation.
Now, let’s come back to our original query.
Lighter initially stored naphtha, until we realized that butane produces a more controlled flame and exudes the least amount of unpleasant odor. Butane in a lighter is pressurized and stored, which causes it to exist as a liquid.
A modern lighter uses butane for fuel, which is stored at high pressure. After the lighter is ignited, the flame then heats the butane. When depressurized, the liquid will immediately vaporize to form gaseous butane. The gaseous butane travels up the chimney of the lighter, finally exiting through the plated tip of the lighter. The metallic wheel on the lighter, when pushed down by one’s thumb, will rub against the ferrocerium to produce a scorching spark. This discharge will ignite the depressurized gas and produce a candle-like flame.
ST3.3 Keeling curve
In 1958, American scientist Charles Keeling started measuring the levels of the gas in the atmosphere every year. He realized that levels rose steadily, at the rate of a few percent every decade. By the mid-1970s, the graph had come to be known as ‘Keeling’s curve’. Keeling's curve showed the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This had long been suspected, but there was no definitive proof that it actually increased. Like in 1859 an Irish physicist John Tyndall had proved that carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, and ozone trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere.
As a graph, Keeling’s curve shows the ongoing change in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. Keeling’s curve has come to be regarded as something like the thermometer of the planet, showing how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is in the atmosphere. It was Mr. Keeling’s findings which alerted the world to the relentless rise of CO2 and, by the late 1970s, to the human role in accelerating the so-called greenhouse effect.
In 2002, Keeling received the National Medal of Science, America’s highest award for lifetime achievement in science. Keeling monitored the curve until his death in 2005 and today, many scientists credit him for nudging the world towards the dangers climate change poses. Since his death, his son Ralph has taken over his work monitoring the atmosphere.
📻 Replug From TheBizdom
The official handle of President Ram Nath Kovind said this about him on Twitter. "President Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Shri Rajnikant Devidas Shroff for Trade and Industry. He is a renowned scientist and entrepreneur. Founder of United Phosphorus Limited, he was the first-ever Indian to start and run a chemical factory in England," In case if you wish to read our coverage
✨ Shower Thoughts
Complex systems cannot be understood without fundamental knowledge of the system dynamics. Since, to design you need to understand the boundary of existing knowledge and then go beyond that. You can’t learn and innovate in a vacuum.
🛎️ Interesting Tweet
↪️ Answer for the Quiz: Morocco and Netherlands were first to officially recognise the United States of America as an independent nation
Thanks, for reading all this!!