UK – England
Sand Origin
Sometimes, as in sports, people divide the UK into England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Here at OUAW, all are joined with sand from each as a part.
Random Sand Fact
Some 300 years ago, the British Navy banned the use of oak for anything but ships pushing English glassmakers to seek an alternative. Enter coal as an alternative fuel source for heating sand.
As a side effect, they discovered that coal burned hotter, transforming sand into much stronger bottles. Bottles strong enough to stand the pressure required for a second fermentation of the wine in the bottles “to put the fizz into sparkling wine.”
The discovery took place almost three decades before a French monk supposedly popped the cork on champagne’s invention.
Who knows where we’d be in a world without sand turned into glass bottles strong enough for this? Left without bubbles to celebrate stuff??
Cheers to the many ingenuities involving humble grains of sand!
