History of Locks and Keys
Wooden locks and keys were in use as early as 4,000 years ago in Egypt. It is also said that the key was invented by Theodore of Samos in the 6th century BC.
In the United States, keys have been seen as a symbol of power since colonial times. When William Penn arrived in Delaware 1682, a very elaborate ceremony was carried out where he was given the key to the defense works.
Flat metal keys proliferated in the early 20th century, following the introduction of mechanical key duplicators, which allow easy duplication of such keys.
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Famous quotes containing the words history of, history, locks and/or keys:
“A great proportion of the inhabitants of the Cape are always thus abroad about their teaming on some ocean highway or other, and the history of one of their ordinary trips would cast the Argonautic expedition into the shade.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“Many a kiss, both odd and even;
Many a glance, too, has been sent
From out the eye, love’s firmament;
Many a jest told of the keys betraying
This night, and locks picked; yet we’re not a-Maying!”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
“Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium!”
—Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859)