In the old days, all sailing war ships and many freighters carried cannon for defense. They fired round iron cannon balls and they needed to keep a good supply near the cannon. To prevent them from rolling around the deck, the best storage method was a square-based pyramid...one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. That way, 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. The problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding out from under the others. They devised a metal plate called a Monkey with 16 round indentations. But if the plate was made of iron, the balls would quickly rust to it. The solution was to make Brass Monkeys. Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts more quickly than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the weather was cold, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey; So it was quite literally, Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. (All this time, you thought I was just being a pig.... didnt you?) T
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:36:15 +0000
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