One day, on her way back home from school, eight-year-old Simran found a unique stone on the roadside – an oval-shaped purple colour stone covered in mud. Immediately, she picked it up and wiped off the mud, and out came a genie!
Simran squealed, “It’s a magic stone!” She carefully put in her bag and walked home. Deciding on testing the stone again that night, she kept it safely inside her drawer in the study. That night, Simran patiently waited for her parents to go to bed. Once everyone was asleep, she tiptoed into her study and slowly opened the drawer.
And the stone was gone!
Where did it go? Who took it? Was it her friend Geeta, who always fish into her drawer for chocolates and crayons? If only Simran had locked her drawer?
That night Simran learned two valuable lessons – to be extra careful with her valuables and to always lock her cupboards and drawers. But was there always a set of locks to keep valuable things safe? Who invented them? How have they evolved?
This month, in #TheEvolutionofEverything, let’s look at the evolution of locks.
The Assyrians were ahead of their time when it came to locks. They invented the prototype of the pin tumbler wooden lock 4000 years ago. The world’s first key was discovered in the palace of Khorsabad. Then, the Egyptians replaced the wooden structure of the lock with brass. They began the practice of locking their houses. Though this relatively secure mechanism spread across the ancient world, it failed to impress the west.
The Romans went a step ahead and made locks with metals. This helped them make locks and keys in intricate shapes. This also gave birth to the trend of wearing keys as lockets and rings! It was a fashion among the wealthy to flaunt their riches by wearing ornamental keys.
During the middle ages, the trend of lock picking became fairly common. As a result, the design of the lock and key became more and more complex. Some European countries made strict rules for locksmiths that keys could only be made in daylight.
In 1784, an English inventor and locksmith Joseph Bramah came up with a pick-proof lock. This was a huge hit in Britain, only to be challenged by English lock and safe manufacturer Jeremiah Chubb. He designed locks with the unique feature of locks getting jammed when opened with the wrong key.
In 1865, American lock manufacturer Linus Yale Jr. came up with the idea of locks attached to the door. Perhaps, the most significant change in the design of the modern key was patented by him. As a result, the keys became much smaller and thinner.
Then came the age(1950s) of electronic keys. Used wisely in hotels, offices, and universities, some keys rely on biometric scans of retinas and thumbprints. Using Bluetooth radio and touch sensors, keys have been replaced by smartphones! These locks still have a physical key for emergencies. Designed in ways that have made it almost impossible to hack, this technology has made it possible to have the same digital key to different locks.
Locks are considered to be one of the most genius innovations man has ever created. Though there have been many variations in the style, design, and mechanism of locks, you may still find doors in rural India using the traditional kundi locks.
Tell us below in the comments if you know of any other type of locks.
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Comments
Ramya Shree.j
June 1, 2020
U are correct
Pratyush
May 25, 2020
A very good explanation about locks and keys
Thanks
Shabina
April 23, 2020
Thanks to byjus
palash bhatt
April 17, 2020
thanks for the great journey of lock and keys
S varsha
April 13, 2020
very interesting information it is something new for me.
Priyanshi Yadav
April 9, 2020
It’s so amazing topic
Priyangshu Das
April 9, 2020
A great thing to know!! It’s amazing!!
Imaan Jagirdar
April 4, 2020
Awesome!!!
Lavica
March 30, 2020
Yes u all are right
Samadrita sen
March 15, 2020
I like it..☺️
Basudev m.s
March 8, 2020
Cool and an amazing story???
Disha Singh
March 7, 2020
I love it…………..
It is superb journey for me
Samadrita sen
March 2, 2020
I really like it..
Harshavardhan.G
February 29, 2020
Good one
Lekshmi
February 27, 2020
Thank You Byjus for giving us a lot of information about ?? and ?️?
Namrata
February 26, 2020
Intresting
K.ABISHEK KUMAR
February 26, 2020
Very Very super
Aashi Agrawal
February 22, 2020
I like it….????????
Hemant Kumar
February 18, 2020
Very nice and interesting story.
Hemant Kumar
February 18, 2020
Very nice
Niranjana
February 14, 2020
Marvellous journey of locks.
Gauri
February 13, 2020
Interesting☺
Joel babu koshy
February 11, 2020
Awesome
G N S Rishitha
February 10, 2020
Yes that was greatest journey our world has travelled ??????☺️☺️
Khushee H. Rathod
February 10, 2020
Great l know this much information about lock first time.
Ashwin
February 9, 2020
Great??
Sanjana
February 9, 2020
Wow best journey
Sanjana
February 9, 2020
Wow evolution best journey
Anaya
February 9, 2020
Interesting evolution
Ch Monika sai
February 9, 2020
I never expected that lock’s are made from ancient people
Nishtha Khandelwal
February 9, 2020
Thanks byjus for this information
Farooqui Rifa
February 8, 2020
Very informative ☺️???
Karnam Gayatri
February 8, 2020
Good for us to known about keys. Thanks byju’s team.???
Yash bhati
February 7, 2020
Yeah, great information
Vedant jadhav
February 7, 2020
Nice information.
Sriparimala
February 7, 2020
The history of locks is interesting
Vanshika Tomar
February 6, 2020
Good
Chinmay
February 6, 2020
The evolution of the lock was so earlier it’s amazing???
Dharshini N
February 6, 2020
Very good ???
Rakshitha
February 6, 2020
It’s awesome great journey
Parthiv patel
February 5, 2020
I like it
Janaki
February 4, 2020
Amazing ?
Manisha.M
February 4, 2020
Super
Vaishnavi Mali
February 4, 2020
Great !!
Krishanu Chakraborty
February 3, 2020
Very nice ?
Prasanta Kumar Padhy
February 3, 2020
Good to see
Devyani
February 3, 2020
I analysis from the story for advanced thinking you have to conclude from the top to least. I understand the secret of success.
Shambhavi Kunwar
February 3, 2020
Thanks for the information.
Aditya
February 3, 2020
Wonderful thank you for this information!
Eniya
February 3, 2020
Thank u for this information This is very useful to me?
Mitul Panchal
February 3, 2020
Superb
Binsa Sara Bovas
February 3, 2020
Thanks for this wonderful information….
Hrishikesh
February 3, 2020
really interesting
Arushi sharma
February 2, 2020
It’s a very interesting fact. Thanks a lot for providing such an important
Information. The story is quite interesting and boasts the importance of keeping our belongings property.
Sonjib Bora
February 2, 2020
thank you so much for the information
harshvardhan phalke
February 2, 2020
Please tell us about evolution of computer storage systems next month.?
Angel
February 2, 2020
Wow ?awesome ideas .Thanku byjus for the information.A happy journey
Lakshya
February 2, 2020
Thank you for the information about these locks
SWARTHMICKA R.S
February 2, 2020
Interesting Story….
Kaiwalya Choudhari
February 2, 2020
Thank you so much for the information. I was wondering for this information.???????
M.sai supraj
February 2, 2020
They said that locks are from ancient times
Sai kartheek
February 2, 2020
I like this
Kotaiah Gathram
February 2, 2020
I like this
Ridhim verma
February 2, 2020
From this lesson I learn that when anything
Keep in are cupboard. We have to lock our
Cupboard
Minal
February 2, 2020
It is very interesting journey .
Ansh Ganesh nikam
February 2, 2020
It was a great pleasure to know about lock.
Ansh Ganesh nikam
February 2, 2020
I am so lucky to know about lock’s thank-you so much for this information.
Dhiraj Narayan Patil
February 2, 2020
I also saw many types of ancient locks on tv show OMG YEH MERA INDIA
Banjyotsna Baishya
February 2, 2020
Thank you for this information
Debalina
February 2, 2020
Such a great pleasure for me to know about these ☺️☺️☺️
Thank you BYJU’S
Sai deepthi
February 2, 2020
Super journey of locks if the locks were not invented it could be so difficult
Pranav wankhade
February 2, 2020
I like it
roodransh
February 2, 2020
waaooooo nice efforts by team
Nehal surve
February 1, 2020
Very nice. Very nicely related to the information ? ??.
Shobhitha.k.r
February 1, 2020
Oh! This lock ? helped me to shutmy study room. I didn’t know that
this ? has one big history. Thank you Byjus for the great
information about the lock. ????.I love u so much byjus for the
great service. Because of you I got to know many wonderful things.
??⌚????? ???
?? ???
?? ???
Back to school!
??✨✨✨??
✨✨???✨✨➕➕???➕➕
???????
???????………………………………………….,.!,.
A.Aadithyan
February 1, 2020
A very thanks for the information
Sradha lakshmi. S
February 1, 2020
WHAT AN INTERESTING STORY….. !!!!!!
Fariha
February 1, 2020
Wow! Such an interesting fact !
I didn’t even know that locks too carried a greatest history.
Kristi
February 1, 2020
It’s really amazing
Debarghya chatterjee
February 1, 2020
Key to the lock to open a room full of knowledge.
Thanvitha
February 1, 2020
Informative
Abhinav LG
February 1, 2020
Wow! thank you for this information please post the evolution of email or television
S. SRI PRANAV KARTHICK
February 1, 2020
IT IS A VERY INTERESTING STORY OF WOOD TO METAL LOCKS . THANK YOU BYJUS FOR SENDING THIS USEFUL MESSAGE TO ME .
AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION LOCK.
Tanvi
February 1, 2020
i like this it was really very intresting
Ashu
February 1, 2020
I like it super best journey
Aviral Shukla
February 1, 2020
That was great! ????
Krishna periwal
February 1, 2020
Nice evolution I am just waiting for next
Antareep Das Mohapatra
February 1, 2020
Thank you for giving me information about locks
Yogesh
February 1, 2020
Nice
Vaishnava.D
February 1, 2020
Wow it was superb i understood the
The importance of locks and know more
About it
Thanks byjus
Shubham
February 1, 2020
WOW!its amazing ??
Aditya Narayan Mazumder
February 1, 2020
What a History !
Thank you Byjus for this wonderful history of keys
Chinmaya Nayak
February 1, 2020
Nice article about locks
Nandita Gupta
February 1, 2020
Tell us the evolution of clothing.
It is also an interesting topic.
Please share with us…☺️☺️
Keerthana
February 1, 2020
Thank you to BYJUS to know about this for us
Rayan
January 31, 2020
You forgot to mention ancient locks in Indian temples and palaces….
vinushree c
January 31, 2020
Really a good thought.Along with studies these
are welcome. Looking forward for more such information.
Devanshi Das
January 31, 2020
I got to know a lot more about locks.I only knew about the locks that we have now in our generation.Thank you for sending this.I really liked everything about locks.
Poojha
January 31, 2020
Thank you byjus for showing us a history of lock really very intresting
Vihaan Malik
January 31, 2020
Very good I like the evaluation of locks.
Gauri Patil
January 31, 2020
Nice information about the locks from ancient times to uptil now. The modern lock i.e.fingerprint sensor and face un
Chirag
January 31, 2020
The new type of lock is voice lock
Harshit
January 31, 2020
Amazing
Seema
January 31, 2020
Thanks for this information ?.
Too much interesting.
JAY
January 31, 2020
Wow! What an amazing journey of locks.
Atri pathak
January 31, 2020
That’s amazing
Ranjith Kumar
January 31, 2020
Super I have lot message from this essay
Kshitij kumar
January 31, 2020
Interesting story
Hashika
January 31, 2020
Thanks for your information
Sakina dosiwala
January 31, 2020
Wowwww.. so lovely
Nirvaira
January 31, 2020
Woah………..?????????? what if she
Did lock her door study table it would be safe and sound
She could be very rich?????
Vaibhav Dattatray Borhade
January 31, 2020
Thank you so much for this information
Vaibhav Dattatray y
January 31, 2020
A great journey
Sindhura
January 31, 2020
Super
Atharva.Sambhaji.Shinde
January 31, 2020
I like it