29 pointsby mhb4 days ago4 comments
  • twelvechairs2 hours ago
    One thing worth noting is lack of fire safety. Not only did the crystal palace burn down but also most of the similar steel and glass exhibition centres built internationally (of which the crystal palace was the first very large one)
    • lukasb2 hours ago
      Odd. I wouldn't expect these buildings to be an above average fire risk ...
      • ahazred8ta2 hours ago
        The contents were flammable and there were no firewalls.
  • fecal_henge23 minutes ago
    British standard whitworth lives on as the thread which attaches cameras to tripods I think.

    I once liberated some simmilar bolts from a broken out tunnel wall at Tottenham Court Road. We machined into tensile coupons and they just stretch out like pulling a toffee bar!

    It's amusing these days to think of imperial measurements as a great standardising force in the world in light of our inability to go metric.

  • jazzyjackson4 hours ago
    Is the a good source for the complete blueprints of the palace? Digital models? I've always enjoyed visiting glass houses but never thought much about how the framework is put together
  • Simulacra3 hours ago
    There's a great story about this in Bill Brysons book "At Home". That's how I learned in 1851 the glass window TAX was repealed.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_tax