Ep. 41 Ladders

This week I look at ladders and tell you how a ladder helped to solve a crime. Come along for the ride this week as I ask, ladders, how did that happen? A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps. Etymology of the word Ladder The word ladder comes from an Old English (Anglo Saxon) word “hlæder”, which means “steps”. Like many Old English words, ladder comes from Old German, in this case “leitara” (“Leiter” in modern German). The root for these could come from a much older word meaning “to lean”. There are typically 2 types of ladders. They are rigid and flexible. History of Ladders No one really knows when the ladder was invented. However, the earliest evidence of it is located in Valencia, Spain. The Spider Caves have a Mesolithic rock painting of a ladder that’s about 10,000 years old.  This painting shows two men using a ladder to access a wild honeybee nest, most likely to get honey. The painting shows a flexible ladder that was made up of some kind of grass. While this is the first evidence of the ladder, most researchers are certain it is much older than that.  The roots of the functional design of ladders as we know them today, can be traced right back to the ancient Hebrew and Egyptian cultures; these are the civilizations that developed and perfected it. Over the years, different kinds of ladders have been created to suit different purposes. The ladder is also mentioned in the Bible. Jacob had a dream and in the dream he saw a ladder reaching from Heaven to earth. Jacob’s ladder is mentioned in the Book of Genesis. This comes from a vision that Jacob had of a ladder that led all the way up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending it constantly to carry out God’s work. First cave painting of a ladder. The significance of this dream has long been a subject of intense debate. However, what it tells us is that ladders were known about at the time the Bible was written.  Ladders were also commonly used as religious metaphors from the 2nd or 3rd century onwards, so they seem to have been objects that many people would have been familiar with.  Ladders in the middle ages Ladders were turned into tools of war during this period, and ones that could aid armies in causing huge amounts of damage to castles and fortresses. Ladders in this period were made from wood. This made it very easy to find the materials needed to build them and assemble them in the field. During a siege it was often archers would begin the conflict by firing at those atop the enemy walls. When enough of them had been shot down and there were little to no enemy arrows being fired into the field, soldiers would approach with long ladders that were made for scaling the walls. They would lean the ladders up against the walls of the castle or fortress and climb up in order to infiltrate and attack. Scalers had to be fast, and they often were, allowing them to reach the top of the ladder at amazing speeds while fully armored.  Of course, they were also met with retaliation as burning oil could be poured over the walls and arrows shot at those climbing the ladders. For a long time, the only ladders that people could build or buy were made of natural materials like wood. Widespread use of aluminium ladders didn't happen until the early 19th century.  Prior to this, there was no way for ladder manufacturers of extracting enough aluminium out of the ground! For a long time, aluminium was higher in value than gold, but nowadays, aluminium ladders are easy to get hold of and won't cost you an arm and a leg. And rollable ladders sometimes   made of rope or aluminium, that may be hung from the top. The vertical members of a rigid ladder are called stringers or rails (US) or stiles (UK). Step Ladder Invention of the step ladder In 1862 a man by the name of John H. Balsley received a patent for the first safety step ladder. This was in Dayton, Ohio.