5 facts about doors you probably didn't know

1.     The most front doors knocked on in one minute is 27

According to Record Setter¹, a Belgian woman named Brabra Braaam set the record for the most front doors knocked on in one minute in 2017, with a total of 27 different front doors.

You could try to beat Brabra’s record, the only rules in the record are that a door cannot be knocked on more than once and the door must be knocked on properly, if you can do that 28 times and provide proof, you’ll be a new world record holder.

If you want a Door Knocker that can withstand being used a lot more than 27 times, check out our extensive range here.

2.     January was named after the god of doors

The first month of the year is named after Janus, the Roman God of beginnings, endings, transitions and of course doors, this was depicted by showing Janus as having two faces, so that he could see in to the future as well as the past.

Therefore, the name January is used to reflect this as a beginning and an open door to new opportunities at the start of a new year, and an ending to the previous year. 

3.     The worlds biggest doors are at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

It is only fitting that one of the largest buildings in the world by area would have some pretty big doors to go along with it, and it turns out they are the world’s biggest. The high bay doors at the Vehicle Assembly Building within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are an incredible 456 feet high and take about 45 minutes to full open or close.

If you want to make sure your doors don’t take that long to close, have a look at our range of Door Hinges for a smooth opening and closing experience.

4.     The State Opening of Parliament has a very specific tradition, and the door plays a key role

The annual State Opening of Parliament is a significant event in both the British Parliament and the British Monarchy. British traditions are known to be slightly peculiar at times, especially when they date back hundreds of years.

After a failed attempt to arrest 5 members of Parliament by King Charles I in 1642, no Monarch has entered through the doors of the House of Commons. That meant that the both the Monarchy and the British Parliament had to adapt to a new way of opening proceedings, and doors play a key part in that procedure.

Once the Monarch has taken their seat in the House of Lords, it is then the job of the Black Rod, the Monarch’s official messenger, to summon the members of Parliament. Tradition then states that when the Black Rod arrives at the doors of the House of Commons, the door is to be slammed in their face to represent the Commons independence. The Black Rod will then knock on the door three times with a rod (hence the name), the door is then opened and the MP’s will then follow the Black Rod in to the Commons Chamber.

5.     The Revolving Door was supposedly invented because of a hatred of opening doors for people

When Theophilus van Kannel invented what we now know as the revolving door in 1888, many didn’t know that there was a possibility that his intentions for creating the invention came from a place of irritation involving slightly awkward exchanges and the concept of chivalry.

We’ve all been there, you and someone else try to enter or exit a door at the same time and the “you go first, no you go first” conversation ensues. Most of us engage in this kind of conversation without a second thought, but this apparently bothered van Kannel so much, along with the expectation to hold a door open for a woman when she passes through, he decided to invent a door that did not require these obligations and social norms that so deeply irked him.

Whether this was van Kannel’s true intention or feelings or not, the revolving door was an innovative concept that is still just as useful today as it was in the 1800’s, so much so that van Kannel has been given several awards for his work and was inducted in to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007, nearly 120 years after the door’s creation.

Now that you know more about doors than ever before, it might make you stop and think about the humble door’s rich history and importance, or just how many front doors you think you could knock on in one minute.

References:

https://recordsetter.com/world-record/different-house-doors-knocked-minute/52839?autoplay=false